Ad Infinitum
by Zerbinetta
Summary: HIATUS Finding Kohaku to protect him was not easy.The real problem began when Kagome realized she would have to convince Sesshomaru of her power and worth. But if you take on the burden of your former self, will you be able to remain firm on your path?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Inuyasha, don't you suppose I wouldn't be wasting my time plotting on how to take over the world of fanfiction? Each and every character you recognize is merely borrowed from Takahashi-sama; anything else is a figment of your (or possibly my) imagination.

**Manga chapter 480 spoiler warning!****  
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**A/N:** A first attempt at IY fanfiction is always a trial.

Well, this is mine. Hopefully, it will turn out to be something good. Thus far, I have the story planned out about halfway and I'm working on the rest of it. As a note: this is a continuation of the manga, the last few chapters are being ignored to some degree, but nevertheless, some information is being used. So, naturally, we're getting to the grand finale of the whole IY storyline here.

If you consider the second part of this chapter OOC, please tell me, but I don't appreciate flames, so none of those, if you can manage that, thank you. I want to make this as realistic as possible, so feedback is appreciated. And as for shippers and all of you romance-hungry people, if there will be romance in this, then the pairings are have not yet been decided, though they will certainly be at least ninety percent canon.

With that said, thank you for taking your time to read this.

X X X 

_**Prologue**_

X X X

Death was coming.

Kikyo had known it every day of her stay in this world; she was living on borrowed time, if her existence could even be defined as that. That her soul had reclaimed its consciousness and had broken free from the body that served only as its keeper was not supposed to have happened, though it presented her with the one-of-a-kind opportunity to settle the score between herself and the world. She had not intended to wake again, to walk the world for vengeance… but she didn't look a gift horse into the mouth. The months spent among the living had granted her more insight, as she carried within her the knowledge of the next world as well as her memories of the past, thus saw more than others, was more capable, more powerful.

She had one more chance to avenge the crimes committed against her, the pain, the sorrow, the hatred.

And now, as manipulation was no longer an option, she was no longer a player in the shadows, she became directly involved with the plotting of her enemies and those that could loosely be considered her allies. Her plan to add the final shard to the near-complete Shikon no tama and then purify the jewel along with the vile creature that possessed it, the being born out of the desire a wretched, evil man had held for her in what truly was like a previous life, was failing. Her strength was wavering, though her resolve remained, and she herself understood that her final hour was ticking.

Around her, the battle continued, but soon after injecting the final, lethal dose of miasma into her unnatural body, Naraku fled with a taunt directed at her, which she found herself ignoring thoroughly. She hadn't lost. No. she had done more than she would have been able to otherwise, and she had been able to tweak the circumstances in her favor. Her only regret was that she wouldn't be able to witness his melting countenance the moment he would be destroyed and feel the vicious glee of victory. But the final task was taken out of her hands, put into the care of the only other person who was able to perform the deed.

Her eyes returned to the girl sitting next to her, who was, in her usual frantic, panicky way, attempting to save her and comprehend her parting words at the same time. It didn't feel strange now, to be looking at a mirror image of herself, as the girl had truly matured, if only somewhat, during the time they had spent silently hating each other, then tolerating, then accepting… one soul born of another, reincarnation, with the appearance of a twin sister, save for her wide-eyed innocence at first, and their conflicting personalities. One could never compare the two of them and consider them similar. There was no similarity between them,

And, as Kikyo understood and accepted, no hatred either.

_You… are me… and there can only be one of me living in this world._

The miko clung to the hope that the girl would understand the last advice she would ever be able to give her, despite her dire lack of training and, perhaps, discipline. Yes, Naraku was now more powerful than either of them. And the last shard resided in the back of a child that had survived terrors unspeakable, unimaginable. It had sustained his life to allow him to fight another day – and, in gaining such a useful tool, her enemy had made a fatal mistake, as she could use it to her advantage.

But like her, Kohaku was as good as dead now. There was no way of extracting the shard without killing him and even she found herself admiring the resolve with which the young taijiya faced certain death and said that it was his wish to die, if his death would mean the death of Naraku as well. And as long as he remained close to her, that was the likeliest course events would take.

She didn't fear death. Her only wish was that it should have waited a few more days. What was time to the dead, after all? Only a clock that had stopped ticking. And she would gladly face hell and damnation after her vengeance was complete and justice was done.

Fate was unkind.

And so she entrusted her vengeance into the hands of one she knew she must trust in. Naraku would strike again, and he would strike harder this time. Last time, the barrier of her shikigami managed to last long enough for help to arrive in the unlikeliest of forms, but she doubted it had been the hanyou himself who had come to reclaim his human doll of a servant. It had probably been some incarnation or another, but smarter than to engage in foolhardy combat and fled in order to bear news of Kokaku´s whereabouts to its even fouler master. And now, though Kohaku was, for the moment, safe, she, who was Naraku´s most feared enemy, was dying, though admittedly, this time, knowing who had killed her a second time.

But she held no bitterness against any of those who stood by her side as life began fleeing from the clay shell that was her body now. There was no way to save her, but there was yet a way to win. And now, at the hour of her second death, she let go of whatever remains of hatred she might have held. The grudges she had held were gone and she hoped that the girl who owned the bow from Mount Azusa now, her second self, Kagome, would understand that she would have to take her place as the protector of the Shikon no tama fully and take responsibility for the jewel's fate.

When one knew one was dying, it didn't seem so terrible. There was always the "could have" and "would have" that a dying person thought of, but, as she recalled her life, Kikyo understood that she had perhaps been meant to be the protector of the jewel for all her days and, in order to obliterate the makings of a great evil, she and many others had to suffer torments unspeakable. And now, she would rest again, as if she had never woken, but the sleep would be sweet – never restless again. She would move on to the next world now, because now, she could.

A smile. She would die with a smile, not in pain and filled with wretched pain, the last sight she would ever witness the object that had caused her so much pain and the man she believed to have used her and her naivety for his own ends. She would die looking upon that man, giving up her unlife, so that he could carry on the journey to their mutual vengeance with the aid of his newfound friends. She would die, knowing that she loved him and he loved her.

And Kikyo died, her body dissolving into light, not as Naraku had taunted, in the arms of one she hated, but in the arms of the man she had loved and hated and then only loved in life and in death as well. Yet part of her soul lived on, lending her strength the one that carried it within her.

And in the end, Kikyo remained living in the minds of those who knew they had to continue without her aid, wishing them well, her light proving guidance in the darkness.

For the light could defeat the darkness, if their hearts remained pure.

The light could guide them on their path.

X X X

The night would soon be over.

A shooting star soared through the night, cutting the sky into two spectacular halves for a moment before hurrying on its way into the depths of space. Far beneath it, a teenaged girl was staring into the depths of a long-dead fireplace, as if searching for sparks. Her black hair was slightly unruly in its would-be curls, her eyes were unusually blue and her clothes were too short, too green and too modern to have been made in the century she was currently in. However, these things didn't bother Kagome one bit. After all, her companions were used to her eccentric – at least to them – appearance.

_Kagome… it is something only you can do…_

Despite the lateness of the hour, she pondered the last words Kikyo had said to her. She thought about the death of Kanna, the first and most faithful incarnation of Naraku, who turned out to be dreaming of her own freedom, though, having no heart, no emotions, unable to express it as her younger sister Kagura did. And though Kagura also perished, both died free, the former understanding her freedom at last, the latter vanishing in a swirl of wind, roaming the lands freely, as she had always wished. Kagome wished that Kagura had found her peace, Kanna as well, and, most importantly, she hoped that Kikyo was now truly content.

But the words of the two women began to click together, like two pieces of the same puzzle, lost, scattered, now recovered. They had both realized the same thing – that while Naraku was nearly indestructible, as their many attempts to destroy him both at a distance and at a close range had proven, hope remained as long as there was a spark of light within the Shikon no tama. Even then, only two people had the power to purify it completely and obliterate Naraku forever… one of them was already dead.

_The light… will kill__… Naraku…_

Kagome wasn't a stupid girl, no matter how often Inuyasha might have insisted that she was. She received good marks at school – at least, as good as a girl that spent the better part of her time roaming medieval Japan and searching for the fragments of a mystical and seemingly cursed omnipotent jewel could receive - and, despite her rather rash attitude and quick temper, she was able of forming a plan, or, at least, of understanding the obvious. Now, obviously, there were two possible courses of action Naraku could pursue. One was killing her and thus preventing the purification of the jewel.

The other made her shudder.

Kagome hated seeing people suffer and get killed. In those moments of her so-called foolishness, she put the safety of others before her own and had a bad habit of charging straight into battle, uncaring about what she _could _do, but aware that she _must_ do something.

Kohaku-kun was only a child, certainly no older than thirteen now. But, like Sango-chan, he was also deadly with his weapon, as they had all witnessed. Her shoulder twitched a bit as she remembered how it had pierced her arm once, though luckily, only slightly.

Yes, Kohaku would be the more likely target. Naraku had experienced the sting of her arrows himself more than once and, despite the fact that she was the less capable out of the two possible targets, a chance-hit of her own would be more deadly to Naraku than a full attack from Kohaku, who knew the futility of such things. Besides, she had more than capable fighters with her, each of them carrying a vengeance vow against the demon – Miroku-sama with his cursed kazaana, Sango-chan, who longed for her brother and for vengeance and Inuyasha, who would stop at nothing to avenge Kikyo and himself.

And Shippo-chan, Kagome remembered, glancing fondly at the small kitsune cuddled nearby in her sleeping bag, which she had temporarily abandoned, despite the coldness. Though he had no personal grudge against Naraku, he had nowhere else to go – and she already considered the kitsune something closest to her own child. Her charge, more likely, but certainly her responsibility.

Shippo was actually the greatest reason for her current hesitation.

Well, second greatest, perhaps, she thought when a familiar pair of puppy-like ears came into her field of vision. Inuyasha was sleeping as well, his hand still on his sword, slumped against the nearest tree, almost as if ready to leap into battle right away. Miroku was nearby, sleeping in a similar fashion, and Sango was resting near Kirara, but currently, only Inuyasha occupied her thoughts. He would be so angry when he would find out…

About her plan, that is.

Kagome felt really brave for making such a plan, but had a sneaking suspicion that it probably was at least the tenth stupidest plan ever to be conceived of in the history of mankind. It was foolhardy and illogical and stupid, stupid, stupid, Inuyasha screamed in her head as she imagined getting caught. Especially now, when he was mourning Kikyo, angering him so was the last thing she wanted to do. But he had to understand that their main priority was destroying Naraku, as quickly as possible, and that no cost was too high for that.

Perhaps she had been risking her life entirely too long, but she felt only slightly frightened. Her plan was to continue what Kikyo had begun – and that meant finding and accompanying Kohaku. Sooner or later, Naraku was bound to make a move and if the two of them were together, he would either strike faster or hesitate for a moment, giving them a chance to do something that would help.

Kohaku´s death was unthinkable. Sango-chan would be completely broken. She wouldn't allow that!

Kagome made up her mind. She jumped up to her feet, but stopped and shivered slightly when Inuyasha stirred a bit in his sleep. The point of this sneaking away was that he wouldn't notice her absence. Part of her was regretting leaving him now, but something in her was also feeling a twinge of doubt whether he simply wouldn't want to let her go now because of Kikyo.

Kikyo defined their world even after death.

But Kagome could now understand Kikyo. She felt little resentment for the dead miko now – it was impossible. In a way, it was Inuyasha who was the one who couldn't let go. And now she would have to be the one to let go… for now. For all of their sakes.

Her bag had gotten considerably lighter after her long stay, but she knew she had to get some more food. And she needed some fast means of transportation, otherwise Inuyasha would catch her easily after waking by following her scent. Thus traveling by air was the wisest option, as her scent would disappear in the morning air. With a silent sigh, she gathered her bow and the few arrows to stuff into her quiver. She left the sleeping bag to Shippo and quietly stepped over the fire, almost tripping but managing to regain her balance.

Gently, she rubbed Kirara´s ears. The nekomata purred quietly for a minute or two before one red eye opened slowly, glancing at Kagome slightly tiredly. The modern miko rubbed the youkai´s ears gently for a while longer until Kirara was finally up, jumping into her lap with a soft meow. Appearances were deceiving, as Kagome had learned many times. What appeared to be a harmless, frail old man could be a deadly spider youkai; what appeared to be an innocent kitten was a fierce feline, when situation required it.

Kagome gently placed Kirara on her shoulder and quietly began moving away from the camp. Then, she stepped on a branch – it didn't crack, miraculously. However, she knew better than to risk more.

_Keh! __You're too damned clumsy, wench. _A voice echoed in her mind.

With a meow, Kirara, as if knowing her thoughts, transformed, and Kagome hopped on her back, whispering her destination in her ear.

They took off into the night, with determined faces.

At dawn, Kagome dismantled at Kaede´s village. An hour after dawn, she had fully recovered from her drowsiness and she managed to muster the will to wake the elderly miko from her sleep. Time was against her. Inuyasha could catch up with her at any minute.

The two miko, ancient and modern, sat down in Kaede´s hut as the sun began rising.

"Kagome, as I understand it, ye intend to follow the lead of Kikyo-onee-sama and travel the wilderness on yer own." Kaede frowned slightly. "I must attempt to dissuade ye of the idea. The wilderness is dangerous, even if you know what you are searching for. With Inuyasha and yer friends, ye can handle yerselves, but all alone, ye can be easy prey to youkai or bandits."

Kagome scowled slightly, lamely opposing with: "Kikyo did it. I can, too. Besides, I know Inuyasha and the others will catch up with me sooner or later. And I won't be going alone, after all. I borrowed Kirara." She stared at her lap, feeling the blush of shame warm up her face. Borrowing without asking wasn't like her, but she couldn't exactly ask for something like that, could she now?

"Yer devotion to yer cause is to be admired, but think of yer own well-being. If Naraku should find ye alone, unaware, ye would be easy prey to him or these detachments of his ye have told me about some time ago. And Kohaku could be hundreds of miles away now."

"Kaede-bachan, I have to try!" Kagome insisted, flaring up for a moment, "I only ask for a supply of arrows in case I run into trouble. Besides, if things go on like this, I probably won't be out alone for longer than a day."

"A day is too long!" the voice of a child opposed. Both women turned to see a little figure enter with Kirara following him. It was Shippo. Kagome was stupefied.

Shippo, if he weren't so angry, would have sighed in frustration. The absence of Kagome was easy to feel when he was sleeping, as they always slept together, so his youkai senses noted something unusual. And Kagome hadn't been herself for some time. She hadn't even sat Inuyasha for quite some time. Whenever he asked her, she just smiled and dismissed this concern politely.

Thus it was only natural for the kitsune to spy, transform and follow her. Wasn't that how he had ended up with them in the first place? He folded his little arms, standing next to Kagome. His large green eyes appeared both reproachful and saddened. And then, without warning, the kitsune launched himself upon Kagome, landing in her lap and hugging her tightly.

"Don't do that again, Kagome, don't leave like that! Is it because of Inuyasha? He'll get better, you know how he is! But don't leave us, Kagome!" Shippo released her briefly to look at her. "I heard you and Kaede-obaa-san." He glanced at the elderly miko, who said nothing. "It's too dangerous to go out alone!"

"But it's a chance that this might work, Shippo! You know how Inuyasha is – he'd never agree to this if I proposed it."

"I know that! That's why I'm here! To protect you!" Shippo said proudly and Kagome could almost swear his chest puffed up slightly. "If Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango are nearby, Naraku won't risk it, but I can help! I can distract whoever attacks us and you can shoot them with your arrows then. And Kirara wants to come too!" The aforementioned meowed an affirmative response. "Besides, Inuyasha´d be mad if you went alone. This way, he won't be so furious once he finds out."

And an hour later, due to the puppy eyes the kitsune was all too skilled in employing and Kagome´s weak heart that came into play when Shippo insisted that Inuyasha would get too violent without her around to yell a good osuwari at him, a rather uncertain Kaede was watching them stroll away, then Kirara rose from the ground, carrying the two small passengers, so that their scent wouldn't be as easy to detect.

Somehow, it seemed like too great a provocation.

To further the effect, Shippo came up with an idea that made Kagome think and, ultimately, agree to it, though it wasn't entirely without doubts. Kaede almost viewed it as a memento, something in honor of her dead onee-sama. When Kagome left, her green uniform – as the girl called the garment – was packed not-so-neatly into her back and the girl herself wore the same clothes Kikyo-onee-sama – the same clothes Kaede – wore every day. The attire of a miko, which made Kagome look not like Kikyo´s twin, but like Kikyo herself, but alive and full of power, at the pinnacle of life and ability.

It was a challenge to Naraku. It was a taunt.

More likely, it was useless provocation that would leave to trouble.

However, if they were to encounter bandits, it would be of far less harm than the clothes Kagome wore every day, which were too attention-catching as it were. Somehow, it had been a little too much even for Kaede when Kagome had explained to her that this was what girls were required to wear in her time, if they wished to receive education of some kind.

A silly thought crossed her mind – perhaps they would succeed in slaying Naraku. After all, it seemed the doomed houshi would live on and insert his attitude towards women into many following generations of men.

But the choice of Kagome to temporarily become a mirror of her dead onee-sama was strange. As a miko, Kaede had heard of reincarnation, but had never witnessed its true effects before first encountering Kagome. Perhaps some of the subconscious feelings of Kikyo remained in Kagome? But no. They were two different people and it was Kagome´s choice to honor the memory of Kikyo, despite the hurt between them.

The idea of leaving her group in general would lead to distress for them all, Kaede thought bitterly, deciding that she might as well get some rest while she had the time and opportunity. No doubt she would soon be receiving a less-than-pleasant visit.

If Shippo was right about anything, it was the fact that she knew most of the people in the village, having lived the longest. Thus she was the only one unsurprised by the red blur and the two panting humans that followed it.

About three hours later, certainly no more, a very livid Inuyasha appeared at her door. Attempting to catch up with him were the houshi-sama and Sango-taijiya-san, who both appeared more concerned than angered. Kami only knew for how long they had been struggling to keep up with their restless companion on foot. After the threats came the shouting and Sango found herself dearly wishing that there was some other way of subduing Inuyasha other than the rosary around his neck, or at least that it would work for all of them – at least one present.

For all of his quieter recent days, Inuyasha seemed more than ready to tear the village apart in his search for Kagome, even though Kaede told him she had gone and what she had told her – that she would be back.

"And you _let her go_ with nothing but that useless baka of a kitsune, baba?!" It almost seemed that sparks would shoot from his eyes as he was preparing to bite the miko´s head off for allowing such a thing to transpire.

In a way, it showed that he cared very much about Kagome, Sango contemplated in her mind, watching the situation passively, at least for the moment. After Kaede-sama had explained why and where Kagome had left, she felt a pang of guilt. True, Kohaku was always on her mind, but that her friend would risk her life to protect him… part of her was very grateful and thanked Kagome from the bottom of her heart for her kindness. But something in her, the rational part, the experienced youkai taijiya, said that this was nonsense. True, the average demon was no longer a threat to Kagome, who she had to say had improved tremendously, but she still wasn't prepared for this kind of task. Where would she get food, drink, refuge? From what she had heard of Kagome´s world, it didn't seem that people lived in the wild often other than for pleasure and in their own cottages.

Though it seemed the whole village had been listening at first, the people grew scared, or tired, and left the scene silently. Miroku found himself envious of them, as it would clearly be up to him and Sango to calm Inuyasha down before he would do something very rash.

"Inuyasha," the old miko withstood his raging and storming with a frown, apparently not so easily intimidated even by a hanyou running rampant. "Kagome has done this because she believes it is best. Shippo tried to stop her, but she insisted. My opinion is that ye should let her attempt to do this, at least once. Understand that Kagome comes from a different land and has always depended on ye and yer friends for protection in case of trouble. If she encounters a youkai on her way, she will most probably succeed in purifying it, but she will also realize that no one can fight Naraku on their own."

"Kaede-sama is correct." Sango added, withstanding the glare Inuyasha fixed her with one of her own. "I wanted to do it on my own as well, once, but you guys stopped me. I tried and failed. Kagome might be in danger, but she isn't as helpless as she was before. Besides, Kirara is with them. They aren't completely a target now."

"My assumption is that Kagome-sama will eventually send Kirara back to us." Miroku added seriously, his natural talent to keep a straight face while Inuyasha was raging surfacing. After all, he was still recovering from the hit the Hiraikotsu had landed on his head when he innocently suggested to Sango that he would carry her during Kirara´s absence. What was so wrong about that? "Then you need only be brought to the spot where they left off, Inuyasha. They won't move very far from there if they move on foot."

"By that time, something might happen to them! Why are you three taking this so easily?!" The monk and the exterminator sighed inwardly at the same time, though they had no idea of it.

Sango wondered if she could somehow sneakily land a hit with the Hiraikotsu and subdue Inuyasha that way. If he wouldn't notice the shadow of it, she would be able to hit hard enough.

Miroku was weighing the possibility of doing the same with his staff, as the kazaana was too dangerous for such a simple thing. He had managed to do it before, after all, though Inuyasha had been crazed with bloodlust then.

Oh, well, they thought. Worth a try.

Raising their weapons together, they stood staring at each other a few seconds later, Hiraikotsu and staff still raised, though they were only surprised that they had thought of the same thing. Well, it seemed it was true that married – and even soon-to-be-married – couples finished each other's sentences. That Inuyasha would loose all hell upon them when he would recover from the hit was no real trouble.

Only Kaede sighed and shook her head. That was one way to do things.

This was going to be one long day.


	2. Mirrored Fates

And so the plot finally begins. Don't worry, there will be more to the story than just soul-searching and remembering the past. After all, she _will_ find Kohaku some day soon… right?

All you recognize is not mine. Save for the plot.

X X X

_**Mirrored Fates**_

X X X X

The first village they entered was pretty peaceful.

Kagome entered on foot, Shippo and Kirara on each of her shoulders. It didn't take her long to realize that they really did draw attention, even without her clothes, but Shippo was the first to point out and understand why it was. The villagers believed her to be a real miko and Shippo and Kirara to be her servants, tamed youkai that helped her in her work.

"Domo arigato, miko-sama." An old man whose load she helped carry to his cottage said to her. Kagome-sama she could handle, but being called "miko-sama" was very confusing and slightly frightening, like the day the villagers had first realized she was Kikyo reincarnated and almost worshipped her. That seemed an eternity away…

…but it became all too real when some family asked her to take a look at their sick child, which she naturally couldn't refuse. Fortunate was the day she decided to learn something from Kaede, especially about herbs! And fortunately, the disease wasn't anything more serious than a high fever, so she was able to deal with it easily, though she felt a slight giggle tie in her throat that they thought that a mischievous tanuki might be doing such a thing, as a meeting place of such demons was near the village.

The villagers continued to look with slight bewilderment at the "traveling miko-sama" and her "youkai servants". But Shippo had been right. Had she been wearing her own clothing, they wouldn't be staring with awe, but with fear and resentment. And when there was no one around to protect her – though she didn't say it out lout, lest she hurt Shippo´s pride – she tried her best to blend in with the surroundings.

Not that she was doing too good a job when she screamed her lungs out when she discovered a caterpillar crawling over the herb she intended to pick.

She had kept her shoes – that was the only thing that didn't match her clothing. After so many months of trekking the country in them, she couldn't imagine fighting in sandals. Overall, she had worn clothes such as she was wearing now only a few times, quite countable on her fingers, but they weren't uncomfortable or restricting, compared to the clothes she saw most of the girls and women around her wearing. However, she felt more out of place than she had before, in her own clothing.

This was the first time she had ever ventured out shard-hunting without the aid of her friends.

By the time they left the third village, the voice in Kagome´s head telling her that this was a lost cause got stronger and she felt a blush of embarrassment for a moment before Shippo asked her what was wrong and she mumbled an apology. After all, it was hardly likely for Kohaku to be wandering through human villages when he knew his life was endangered – he didn't want others getting hurt, just like her.

After village number five, as she dubbed it in her mind, for they all appeared alike to her, Kagome decided to give Kirara a longer rest and she sat down in one of the many fields near the settlements, giving the two little demons with her something to eat while she nibbled on her own lunch.

Well, this was one way to discover that one's plan was a complete failure.

"Ne, Kagome?" Shippo began, finishing a bit of chocolate. Candy had been the kit's addiction ever since Kagome had gotten the now regretted idea of bringing him the first bit of chocolate. "Do you really want to return to the others tonight?"

"Camping out in the wild on our own isn't very smart." _I wish Inuyasha would have just understood why this has to be done, _Kagome thought. "Besides, I don't want them worried that much…" _And I don't want Inuyasha more upset than necessary._

The fox kit nodded gravely. "Inuyasha is a stubborn fool when it comes to you, but he wouldn't be too wrong about that." Somehow, Shippo managed to look very Miroku-like when saying that, though in the rational and serious way, not the womanizing way. "But I think it was a good idea in the end."

Kagome glanced at Kirara, who was watching the wind blow through the grass. The miko was willing to bet that she missed Sango already, but didn't show it in any way. And somehow, she felt guilty again. Sango would have understood, though she perhaps wouldn't have approved of it. But still, she thought hotly, it had to be done. It was the best course of action and, who knows? Perhaps she could actually manage to convince Kohaku that he was better off with his sister at his side.

Dimly, she recalled that she had a brother of her own back in her modern world and though he annoyed her no end at times, she would never allow him to take such a risky journey without her. But Souta wasn't Kohaku. Fortunately.

"Ne, Kirara… if you want to go back to Sango and the others, feel free." Too bad she sounded firmer than she truly felt.

"But why, Kagome?" Shippo piped up. "It'll be dark soon and it wouldn't be wise to venture back to the others on foot."

"That's just it, Shippo-chan. I don't think I'll be coming back tonight. But you can go too, if you want…" she knew it was useless the moment she began speaking, because the kit jumped into her lap and poked her stomach with his little finger reproachfully.

"No way. I'm staying with you."

A smile crossed Kagome´s features, forgetting the situation for a moment. Really, she was too used to traveling with Shippo. She couldn't go alone. She wasn't Kikyo.

Kikyo.

Kikyo the soulless, cold miko that traveled the wilderness on her own, in silence, only the Shinidamachū faithfully gliding alongside her, providing her body of clay with the necessary nourishment.

Kikyo who gave her life so that they might journey on. Kikyo who would live on through her, whether she liked it or not.

Suddenly, she didn't feel like eating anymore.

"Pardon me, miko-sama."

She had zoned out for so long that she hadn't even realized that the sun had set and the farmers were returning to their homes. A group of young women, all around her age or a few years older, stood nearby, farming and gardening tools in their hands, hair bound, dresses simple, looking at her. They must have assumed she was attempting to meditate or something, judging by the respectful voice the one that had approached her assumed. Inwardly, the embarrassed part of her was glad because of that.

"My name is Nagisa," the one that appeared oldest said, "miko-sama, and these are Risa, Tamayo and Hatsu. We were only wondering if you had a place to stay tonight."

Now Kagome was really startled, but clearly not as startled as the girl that had noticed her youkai companions. "Eh?" was her quote of a day. And then, as if a bulb had been plugged… "Ah, no, no, I don't."

"Well, you shouldn't stay here outside during the night! Come with us, please, our mother will be most glad to have you for the night." Nagisa said with a note of insisting, though it didn't seem that she had any kind of ulterior motive, Shippo mused.

Yes, the kitsune decided. "I think we should come, Kagome."

The rest of the women noticed Kirara, who meowed when Shippo asked what she thought, but surprisingly, not all of them were that afraid. After all, both demons appeared small and relatively harmless. Before Kagome could even think of an answer, Shippo swallowed what bit of food he had left. And even she had to realize he had a point. Follow her lead you might, but you aren't Kikyo, she reminded herself. She didn't want to become Kikyo. Not that it was possible, anyway. And she realized that, contrary to what she might think, while Kikyo had traveled alone, she had been far from defenseless and had certainly been more capable than she in the defense department.

"Arigato." She said, rising to her feet and gathering the bag Shippo had already managed to pack.

The journey to the village wasn't long, her companions (the human ones, anyway) chattered all the way, but seemed to keep a respectful distance from her, as if not to bother her with their trivial questions. Kagome sighed inwardly. If everyone was going to be worshipping her like this like some kami-sama, there was no way she was ever going to make any progress.

The next day, after a very comfortable stay in the village, she bid the kind family farewell and progressed further on foot. Kirara got some rest, Shippo didn't get nauseous anymore and she herself enjoyed a nice walk. Wonderful.

But even in the wild, there wasn't any sight of demons, let alone rogue demon slayers. Kagome, however, considered this trip a good idea, if only because she began to understand just how much she cared about the friends she had left behind. She missed Sango, with whom she could talk about anything and everything, even Miroku with the two sides of his personality – the seasoned monk con artist and the experienced lecher – and… she even missed the possible fit of rage Inuyasha might have once she would return. Scratch that. There would be one hell of a fight after she would return, but she found herself caring very little.

It had been long since she had used the enchanted rosary around his neck and she had refrained from doing so in honor of his mourning, but she was ready to use it if he dared blame her for attempting to save a life.

"I wonder what kept Kikyo busy in the months when we didn't see her." Shippo said out loud from her left shoulder. "This traveling gets old eventually."

Kikyo. Kikyo traveling. Kikyo the miko. Kikyo her past self. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut. She had to get out the mental image that she was becoming a hybrid of Kikyo simply because she had chosen to follow her advice and travel alone in search of Kohaku.

"Being a miko is a responsibility, Shippo-chan." Kagome said, smiling when he gave her a quizzical look. It gave her a reason to forget the previous thoughts. "You have to help people – I bet normal miko don't spend their lives chasing after the fragments of a sacred jewel like I do. It might actually be a pretty quiet life."

"Yeah, like Kaede-bachan does, right? Helping sick people, exorcising mischievous demons…" the kitsune sighed. He ran out of things to list. But somehow, he couldn't imagine Kagome in a shrine, tending to wounded soldiers. She was too… action-oriented for that. She tried, but she wasn't a healer – it wasn't a natural ability. More like a learned skill.

"Kagome?"

"Yes, Shippo-chan?"

"What will you do when we finally beat Naraku?"

"We're far from doing that right now, Shippo-chan. You know we've been trying for very long…"

"Yes, but when," _If… _it echoed in both their minds. "We do, what will you then?"

Silence.

"I…"

"I thought you might help Kaede-bachan with the shrine in her village. I'm sure she would be glad to have you, Kagome."

Fortunately, the cries of children from the village they managed to reach spared Kagome the need to answer that difficult, difficult question. She wasn't ready to answer. But what she was truly unprepared for was the cry from some of the children that noticed her. There was no doubt about what they cried, all of them, save one girl, who stared at her with wide eyes, with unhidden glee and happiness as they rushed towards her.

"KIKYO-SAMA! KIKYO-SAMA HAS RETURNED!"

And before she could understand that, she was hugged from all sides.

X X X

Inuyasha was angry.

No, make that really, _really_ pissed off.

Certainly, Kagome had moments of undeniable stupidity and downright foolishness. Like when she defended that idiot wolf. Or when she wanted to return to her world and postpone their shard-hunting because of her spellbooks and "tests". And certainly whenever she screamed her head off when speaking the dreaded word that made him eat dirt due to the damned rosary he couldn't take off. What was with that, anyway?

Now, however, it was different. At those times, he had a means of reaching her and yelling at her, making her realize her mistake. But right now, even her scent was impossible to catch, as it had rained hours after they had come to Kaede´s village… and it was already the next day.

Stupid girl!

Hadn't she promised to return the next day?

And why was everyone else being so calm about it, damn it all!

He was currently sitting on his favorite branch of a particular tree, albeit restlessly, staring into the sky in a vain attempt to catch sight of a familiar flamed tail that would bring those two idiots, Shippo and Kagome, back safely. As long as Kirara was with them, they had some chance of survival, but he still didn't get Kagome´s idea about leaving them.

So Sango´s brother had the last shard. Big deal – Naraku would be long dead before he would touch him. Besides, he remembered something that had probably escaped Kagome´s _genius_ plan and observations. Kohaku would be fine, because last time he checked, the kid had been traveling with his not-so-wonderful bastard of a half-brother. And Sesshomaru had probably also realized that Naraku would come for the last bit of the jewel, which was why he hadn't killed the kid on sight.

After all, Inuyasha huffed inwardly, the kid would have died before ever setting sights on Sesshomaru if he wasn't of importance. He had tried to kill that little girl Sesshomaru kept around for some reason – and his brother certainly knew how to hold a grudge when he put his mind to it.

Not that it wasn't mutual, mind you.

A low growl found its way out of the inu-hanyou´s throat at the thought of his brother. Never mind him now, however, his current problem was that foolhardy wench, Kagome, who had decided to play the hero.

Again.

And he wouldn't lose her the way he had lost Kikyo.

When Kaede-baba had said that Kagome had borrowed the clothes of a miko, he didn't understand it very well. But then he realized that she had done so because of Kikyo – and it kept bugging him ever since. Had Kikyo said something to Kagome? Something of significance?

But when that white ghostly demon, Kanna, had told her her last words, Kagome had told them all. So why hadn't she shared all the information she had?

Kagome had always disapproved of Kikyo. And now, she had made herself into a replica-image of her past incarnation.

Damnit, this was too confusing.

Dimly, beneath his rage, Inuyasha really hoped that nothing had happened to Kagome. She was too stubborn to die, he said often, but knew that if assaulted by a pack of stronger yokai, she probably wouldn't end up victorious.

It was very frustrating not to be able to do anything about it.

_Damn it, wench, if you get hurt, __I'll rip Shippo´s head off for letting you go without me._

X X X

"Kikyo-sama, Kikyo-sama, are these herbs good for wounds? I wanted to ask you before, but…"

"Why did you leave us, Kikyo-sama? Didn't you like it here?"

"Kikyo-sama, you will stay this time, won't you?"

The children chanted questions while circling her, reminding Kagome of her friends from back home when they demanded to know who she was dating at the moment. But the words "Kikyo-sama" were stirring something in her… something she didn't like.

_You look really stupid there, Kikyo._

"I'm not Kikyo!" she cried, the calm exterior that made her look like the dead priestess vanishing in a purely Kagome moment. The children stopped and looked at her in bewilderment. "My name is Kagome! Ka-go-me."

The slight commotion that it caused made the children back away a bit, almost afraid. But Kagome recovered, the golden eyes eying her with distaste and amusement at the same time vanishing from her mind.

"But you look just like Kikyo-sama…"

The girl who had appeared afraid of her had edged towards her while her attention was elsewhere and touched her hand with a timid fear. Kagome´s eyes shot towards her, but the girl in the yellow kimono suddenly relaxed.

And she appeared a bit relieved, though also… saddened. "The miko-sama is not Kikyo-sama. Her hands are warm. I'm Sayo." The little girl said to Kagome. "Do you… do you know Kikyo-sama?"

This girl was frightened, but not of her. Frightened of Kikyo… but also missing her. Kagome struggled inwardly to gain control over her little outburst. Of course, Kikyo had visited this village before…

"We knew Kikyo-sama." Shippo suddenly chimed in from her shoulder. Sayo gasped as she noticed the kitsune, who hopped down to the ground next to her, but smiled. "Kikyo-sama is at rest now."

And Sayo relaxed completely. Now Kagome understood. This girl had seen something that gave her a hint of the nature of Kikyo´s body. Perhaps she had seen the Shimidamachi… but she had cared for Kikyo, obviously.

"Gomen ne, Sayo." She crouched next to the little girl, who mustered the courage to pet Kirara, who gave a gentle meow. "People… people sometimes mistake me for Kikyo. I don't like it."

Sayo nodded. "You look just like her… Kagome-sama. But you don't sound like her."

"Are you Kikyo-sama´s nee-sama, Kagome-sama?" The villagers that had homes nearby had come to see what the commotion was about.

"I don't really like talking about Kikyo." Kagome muttered with an apology. She didn't want to think about the undead miko more than necessary.

And then the children began to demand her attention as well.

"Kagome-sama, you are a miko-sama as well, aren't you?"

"Come play with us, Kagome-sama!"

"We wanted to go gather flowers, could you show us some healing herbs?"

The children were also curious about Shippo and Kirara, circling them to look at them from every direction until Shippo "snapped" and showed off a little of his kitsune magic with his transformations, randomly changing into each of the children and then impersonating Kagome in her miko clothes.

She really did look like Kikyo when she dressed like this.

"Shippo, go play with the children a bit. You too, Kirara. I'll ask about Kohaku."

And the children were off, with Kagome´s promise that she would go see them soon. Some of the villagers had gathered and she approached house man that appeared to be the house of the headman of the village. She was graciously admitted inside – the headman was old, but appeared to be well-mannered. He offered her food and drink, which she gladly accepted, and then proceeded to inquire the obvious.

"So what brings you to our village, miko-sama?"

"I'm searching for a youkai taijiya."

A frown. "Last I heard, their village had been wiped out, hadn't it? Qualified taijiya are hard to find these days and after that massacre… I wish you luck with that. If any of them had survived, they had probably left the area. I heard it was a terrible thing, that."

"The taijiya I'm looking for won't be that difficult to recognize."

"Indeed?"

"It's a boy, about thirteen years old, wields a chain-sickle and wears black and green armor. He has a freckled face and looks very harmless."

"A child?" the headman would have laughed, but didn't want to be disrespectful. "Miko-sama, I doubt that any children had survived to tell the tale of that village."

"You don't understand. He had survived, but disappeared a few weeks ago. Have there been any unfamiliar demon attacks in the area recently?"

"Not that I know of, but then again, we lead a peaceful and secluded life. There isn't anything interesting about our village. Youkai have no reason to come here."

Kagome had suspected that might be answer, but the fact that Kikyo had been here had given her some hope. "If I may, could I stay here for the night and tomorrow, perhaps? I'd like to look around a bit, just in case."

"Of course, miko-sama. We would be most glad even if you would choose to stay here permanently, you know. Ever since Kikyo-sama vanished, we've not had the presence of a holy woman in our vicinity. Forgive me for mentioning it, but you really do look like her. Are you family?"

Momentarily silence. "Kikyo and I were very close." Once, they had been part of the same body. Once, their soul had belonged to only one. "Thank you for allowing me to stay here." Kagome bowed her head.

"It's no problem. My house is at your disposal, you will be welcome here as long as you wish." The headman smiled and stood up. The miko took it as a signal to stand up as well. "I hope your search goes well, miko-sama."

The village, bathed in the crimson light of the setting sun, was a wonderful sight. The day with the children was spent playing, searching for flowers, teaching them simple songs from her time. After all, what harm could that do?

How peaceful it was not to be assaulted by youkai at every turn, Shippo thought as he showed off more of his magic to the children. It was pleasant to have such an appreciative audience. The children cheered whenever he transformed and asked him to do people they wanted to see again. His tail always remained after transforming, true, but it was fun nonetheless.

Kagome watched all this with a smile.

After sundown, she escorted the cheerful little kids back to the village. Shippo was already falling asleep on her shoulder, having played the day away. The little kitsune was exhausted. And Kagome, though not weary, felt like having a good night's sleep as well.

But, looking back, there was nothing better to give you back your energy like being awaked with screams of "Youkai! Youkaaaii!" in the middle of the night.

At least that had not changed.


	3. Raindrops

The kind reviews, however few, give me the power to continue the story.

This chapter deals with a certain kind of Japanese demon called nukekubi – the more detailed description of what it actually does is within the fic itself. I was browsing wikipedia, searching for monsters of Japanese folklore that haven't been overused in IY fanfiction and found this.

And, just for good measure, I added another one. Japanese folklore is really nice, though I really have to learn to distinguish the demons.

Did you know that they have a demon that apparently licks toilets?

Just asking oO

X X X

**Raindrops**

X X X X

With a silent thanks to herself that she had been too fatigued to even change into her nightclothes, Kagome clumsily grabbed her bow and quiver (Shippo quickly checking if there were any arrows in it, just in case) and dashed out of the headman's house into the night. Unfortunately, fate decided that it had to make things normal again and level the situation after it allowed her to have such luck, thus when the first showery rain hit her face, the modern day miko was only moderately surprised.

A mass of people rushed past her and some were yelling something at her, incoherently, but she managed to get their meaning. After all, it was like that in every village they visited, no? Please exterminate the oh-so-dangerous attacking youkai while you're here, miko-sama.

And when a severed head whizzed past her, Shippo was quicker with his kitsune bi and then managed to capture it into a net before it could struggle. As it was her cue, Kagome fired an arrow at it, which immediately shone a bright pinkish light and the head vanished as it made impact.

"Is it dead now, Kagome?" Shippo asked, his tone a bit darker than usual, as it always was when fighting youkai. "Hey, where's Kirara?" the kitsune asked before she could answer and searched for her with his eyes.

Meanwhile, Kagome wanted to say that yes, if they got the head, it was likely over, but when another random body part whooshed around them and attempted to grab her neck, she almost overbalanced and definitely stumbled, missing with her arrow. Again, Shippo used his tricks and distracted the flying head long enough for Kagome to hit it even from her uncomfortable crouching position.

"I don't think we're done yet, Shippo-chan." She panted, rattling her brain for whatever Shinto demons she could remember. She had definitely heard about this from jii-chan at least once. "This demon has multiple heads that detach at night and scream… and it's called… it's… gah, it's on the tip of my tongue!" Kagome cursed.

"NUKEKUBI!!!" a villager screamed his lungs out as he rushed past her, another head in hot pursuit behind him, screaming even louder.

"That's it!" Kagome proudly exclaimed, "Nukekubi! Thank you!" she yelled to the villager before aiming an arrow at the head flying after him and, this time, hitting it point-blank. The exhausted villager collapsed and she rushed to him. "Where's the body of the demon? I have to destroy the youkai´s body to kill it."

But the villager was already unconscious. And with Shippo´s cry of "Kagome!" the miko whirled to see a fresh batch of heads flying towards them. She could hit only so many with her arrow, and there was not time to fire more than one at a time. That, fortunately, was when Kirara chose to make her appearance, in full-youkai form, and Shippo eagerly hopped on her back when the heads were torn to bits.

"Kirara can sense where the rest of the youkai is."

Kagome, being so used to Inuyasha dealing with the scent department of searching for youkai, was almost stunned for a moment before nodding hastily and following suit. Kirara took off hastily and Kagome managed to fire an arrow or two at passing heads while the two youkai searched for the rest of the demon. Unfortunately, Sayo was nowhere in sight – and Kagome felt worry for the girl.

They were flying out of the village, Kagome noticed, and concluded that it made sense for the youkai not to be risking its precious body inside the village itself – it probably wasn't immune to fire, which the villagers could make, and even the slash from a good farming tool was probably too much for parts of it. Nevertheless, the screams coming from the village made it difficult to focus.

They only flied for a minute or two – Kirara was moving at a high speed and the body definitely wasn't far off. But it was still away from the warm light of the village and the group found themselves seeing a clearing where the monster was resting, the eyes of its remaining heads rising to meet those of the trio. Immediately, several heads flew at them – some were dispatched by Kagome´s arrows and Kirara´s fangs, a few ended up in humorous positions thanks to kitsune magic.

Kagome attempted to fire an arrow at the thing, but it appeared to vanish. Shippo´s warning yell came too late – the youkai had jumped into the air and in order to evade him, Kirara drifted off course sharply. Kagome, who had been aiming another arrow, failed to notice it and thus didn't hold too tightly. Even her last-second attempt to gain some balance didn't do her much good and Kagome found herself falling through the air with a high-pitched scream. There was no one to catch her down there, which wasn't much of an improvement from their group battles.

"KAGOME!"

A few seconds later, she found herself worshipping the fact that Shippo´s magic was quicker than the pull of gravity, as she landed on something that vaguely resembled a trampoline and rose back into the air.

"Arigato, Shippo-chan!" she shouted before aiming an arrow at the heads rushing towards her. Realizing that she probably looked downright strange, attempting to shoot a demon with a sacred arrow while jumping up and down on a trampoline lightened her mood slightly.

But the body of the youkai was missing, and once the swarm of heads was gone, she realized it… only after human-like arms grabbed her by the waist – and by the wrists as well, making the modern day miko mentally relive an experience where six hands grabbed her and pulled her down a certain time-traveling well - and wretched the bow out of her hands, throwing it away roughly.

"Onna," the youkai´s sly voice slithered its way into her ear. "Your flesh feels tender. You'll be the main course after I'm done with the village children." Another pair of hands found her neck – and it wasn't very pleasurable, because it gave her the feeling that any struggling would result in it breaking not-so-accidentally.

And then, Kagome spotted the other heads bringing children towards the body, struggling, crying, some spotting her and shrieking for help, desperately, pathetically. Soft masculine laughter near her left ear. And in a moment, Kagome found herself understanding the moments of life-or-death choices, the times when her hanyou friend found himself bubbling with rage and transforming into something darker and more vicious.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed and grabbed the pair of hands around her throat.

The pinkish light that always engulfed her arrows appeared, in the same fashion as it had in a long-ago moment, when she had been falling down the well for the first time, as Shippo had told her happened when the resurrected Kikyo attempted to slay Inuyasha in a primal rage… and these memories both stirred a strong feeling within her as well. She didn't know what she was doing, not really, only that she wanted to burn and destroy the youkai that threatened those children and Shippo and Kirara. Her own life was secondary to her in that moment.

The screams of the youkai were irrelevant. It only took several seconds.

In a fashion not very different from the moments she had witnessed Sesshomaru attempt to melt her and his brother with the poison in his claws, the foul skin of the youkai began vanishing, then the flesh, the bones… until all that was left was a cinder lying at her feet.

The heads screamed mid-flight, but not with glee anymore, but with pain, and also melted, turned into ashes and scattered into the wind. All that was left was Kagome standing alone, panting heavily and rubbing her neck where the demon had gripped her too tightly. The reddish spots were slowly turning purple, she realized, and the bruises probably wouldn't vanish too early.

"Kagome!!"

"Kagome-sama!!"

She was probably staring at her hands too much, but she had only accomplished that kind of thing a handful of times, really. Something made hard impact with her chest and hugged her fiercely. Another light weigh found its way to her shoulder and casually nuzzled her cheek. Shippo and Kirara.

Kagome returned to reality. She wasn't used to spacing out this much and she definitely didn't like it. Just what had happened a moment ago? But then again, the others were safe – and that was all that mattered. Somehow, however, she was convinced that it wasn't just a coincidence she should be thankful for. The very thought gave her the shivers.

It wasn't something she wanted to delve deeply into.

X X X

Sango lifted up a severed head with slight distaste. As far as youkai were concerned, she preferred exterminating those that had an animal form, not those that masqueraded as humans. It always added a little more burden to a person's conscience when their prey resembled humans. But taijiya were no assassins – they hunted only youkai and only when they caused trouble to humans of any kind.

"Here's another one." She called to Inuyasha, who nodded curtly before kicking away a head of his own finding towards the pile that the villagers wanted to burn. "It seems that after the body was destroyed, the heads died naturally."

"That was what the miko-sama told us." The headman of the village said with a nod.

Miroku, who, having the best conversation skills of the group, had been talking with him, had a frown on his face. Normally, one could attribute it to the fact that the females of the village he had encountered thus far were only children and a few crones, but currently, it was because the "young traveling miko-sama" and her "youkai companions, a small kitsune and a nekomata" appeared to be long gone.

"Tell me more about the miko-sama, please. Was she… different from other miko-samas in appearance or clothing?"

The headman thought for a moment, clearly surprised that the monk would ask, as if he was looking for a particular miko. "She was a strange one, certainly, but we're infinitely grateful for her brief visit. Those two youkai that she had with her were a strange addition, but they appeared to obey her. And she also carried this huge yellowish bag that seemed pretty heavy."

"Kagome." Inuyasha literally jumped in. He and Sango had finished piling up the heads and the taijiya was preparing to burn them with an already lit torch.

"Yes, that was her name, I believe." It made Miroku wonder just how senile the man was if he could forget the name of a miko that had showed up with two tamed demons with her "At first, we actually thought that Kikyo-sama had returned to us," at the mention of Kikyo´s name, Inuyasha´s ears rose significantly and it took a fixed glare from Sango (though she had the sneaking suspicion that he had barely noticed it before it turned into an open death threat). "but she said her name was Kagome. The strangest thing was that she looked exactly like…"

"Kikyo was here? When?" Inuyasha demanded briskly.

"Kikyo-sama had lived here for several weeks more than a year ago… or two, perhaps? It was quite long ago, but she was a blessing to our village. However, then she vanished without a trace one night." However, it was not the headman that answered that question, but a timid-looking little girl. She couldn't be over ten.

Miroku´s frown vanished as he crouched next to her and awarded her with one of his "I'm-just-the-kind-and-friendly-monk" smiles. The girl seemed to think just that and relaxed a bit. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sayo. Are you friends of Kagome-sama?" Sayo asked, slightly more cheerfully. "Kagome-sama told us that she had left a group of youkai-taijiya to search for a lost boy. She said it was a brother of a friend."

Sango, who had arrived only seconds ago, stopped short in her tracks. Never mind that she had been worried about Kagome before – now she felt sick with worry. It was because of her, partly because of her, that Kagome had chosen to leave them and risk her safety. She felt Miroku´s eyes upon her, clearly compassionate, but she didn't even dare glance at him.

"Yes, we traveled with Kagome-sama before she left us. Did she tell you anything else? would you happen to know where she went?" Miroku asked, returning his attention to Sayo while keeping one eye on his fiancée.

Sayo shook her head. "Kagome-sama killed the demon heads and rescued us but left almost at once, probably to search more. I miss Kagome-sama already."

"We miss Kagome-sama too, so we want to find her and convince her that traveling with us again would be better. Are you certain that she didn't tell you anything more?" Sayo shook her head. "And how old are you, Sayo?"

Sango raised her eyebrows as she returned to reality, but figured it was just another attempt to coax some information out of the girl. Surely not even Miroku was that…

"Seven."

And just to get Sango into a better mood – and to see if she was listening and if she cared – Miroku decided to let the habit take over. "I see. Listen, when you grow up…"

Well, she cared, but he couldn't really decide whether it was for him or for the child.

Hiraikotsu made contact with the top of his head.

Hard.

X X X

The brightly yellow umbrella with pink flowers needed replacing, Kagome decided as she trekked – no, swam – through the mud that was forming underneath her feet. Her shoes would need major polishing and there was no village in sight. The weather was only getting worse and even though Shippo said several times that Kirara wouldn't mind carrying them again; Kagome didn't have the heart to continue using her as a pack mule. Anyway, part of her actually hoped that the others might catch up with her, scold her and bring her back to Kaede´s village… and maybe a warm fire.

They were certainly a good few dozen miles away from the village where Kikyo had once lived – but she wanted to put a greater distance between herself and the village. Not that the villagers were unkind or ungrateful – they had given her fresh food and even some money for the "extermination", despite her protests. Eventually, she had submitted because of Shippo and Kirara.

Right now, she wasn't as much as searching for Kohaku as searching for anything that even vaguely resembled a settlement. Even a cave would do, she thought bitterly, as long as there wouldn't be any kind of friendly neighborhood youkai residing within it. She had had enough demons for one day.

Fighting one demon without her more skilled friends had proven exhausting enough.

"Kagome, I think I see some lights over there." Shippo said, pointing towards a flickering firefly-like image far away from them.

"I see it, Shippo-chan."

"You know, you don't have to walk all the way there. Kirara can fly us there, she doesn't mind, right, Kirara?" Kirara meowed in what could be seen as an affirmative. "You've been on your feet for far too long."

Kagome smiled and petted Kirara for a few seconds. "That's nice of you, but I don't want either of you exhausting yourselves. I don't know when we might reach the next village."

"I thought you wanted to return to Inuyasha and Miroku and Sango after a day, Kagome." Shippo mused after a moment. "It's been more than a day."

"Yes… but they can do without me for a while."

"You really want to find Kohaku, right?"

_It's _your _fault the damned jewel was shattered in the first place! _"Mm-hm. And I don't want to make Inuyasha too upset over Kikyo´s death. I think… I think he really needs some time alone. He doesn't get that very often."

"Yes and he's too much of a simpleton to get it into his thick head that you care about him that much." Shippo said, slightly gruffly.

Kagome only smiled ruefully.

The rain continued to pour in thick streams and the lights didn't appear to come any closer. Kagome actually considered asking the others if Kirara would carry them after all when she heard muddy footsteps behind her, turned… and regretted it.

Another head was rushing towards her, but this time also connected to a neck, which was stretching and stretching, as if it were made of rubber or some similar substance, but Kagome didn't get much further in her observations, only lowered her umbrella and swung it at the youkai like a club or a mace. Fortunately, she managed to hit it in one of the eyes it had and cause a feminine shriek to sound louder than the pouring rain.

Kagome stumbled back in the mud and tossed her umbrella away to reach for her bow, but the neck and head were returning and wrapped themselves around her upper torso before she could make another move.

"Kagome, it's a rokurokubi!" Shippo called after attempting to use his kitsune bi on the neck, which managed to dodge it.

Kagome dimly wondered why she was having the misfortune of being attacked by a demon passing by before the youkai´s head stopped in front of her own with a wicked smile. It was, as it usually was with this kind of demon, jii-chan´s voice echoed in her mind, a woman.

"How dare you kill my brother, miko?" the head hissed at her triumphantly. "You'll be longer than my neck by the time I'm done with you…"


	4. Standing Ground

Quick update, though the next one might take some time. Force Plot, a.k.a. Midoriko´s will, doesn't belong to me – it actually works in the manga, influencing situations.

Reviews are appreciated, as always, as are comments and suggestions. Right now, I hope I'm not taking things too abruptly and that Kagome isn't too angsty – just to be sure, I think this chapter starts to characterize her a bit more as the Kagome we all know and love – or hate. I don't actually have an extremely high or low opinion when it comes to the whole love triangle thing, as I believe both sides of the story are equally interesting – thus, I don't bash Kagome or Kikyo.

With that, said, here´s the chapter.

X X X

**Standing ground**

X X X X

Vaguely, the sounds of a struggle reached her ears and the light of kitsune bi reached even her closed eyes. Yet try as she might, Kagome had her arms pined against her body and thus was unable to even reach for the long snakelike neck that was lazily encircling her and squashing her. Soon, her bones would start making sickening cracks – biology lessons kicked in. apparently. Forceful fractures were very painful. She had had a sprained ankle several times, but she had never had a major bone fracture.

There was a first time for everything, though.

The hold loosened for a moment, but then she felt her feet leave the ground as the youkai used her and the part of it wrapped around her as a club that threw the incoming Kirara aside. Now Kagome definitely felt her bones sprain. Ruefully, she imagined that her bow was somewhere below in the dust, out of her reach. She tried hard to relive the sensation she had felt when she had destroyed the previous youkai with such ease, but apparently, the power within her had whims of its own.

Her eyes were watery now, both because of frustration and because of pain, not to mention the heavy and cold rain making impact with her skin at every instance. She couldn't even see Kirara now, despite the fire of the nekomata. One thing she still fought for, though – a different way to die. She wouldn't die like this, just as she hadn't died the first time she had faced a youkai on her own. And this time, she wasn't alone.

More than she knew, anyway, because the head, somewhere behind her, gave a sickening yell and released her. Although she wasn't as high in the air as she had believed, Kagome yelped as her body made contact with the muddy ground. It wouldn't cause permanent injury, it just hurt as hell.

Praying to all Kami that the youkai wouldn't notice her now muddy white and red clothing and was sufficiently distracted for the time being, she searched the mud blindly for her weapon. When she finally managed to locate a long object made of wood that her mind, had it been in its chirpy normal state, would have identified as her bow, Kagome saw – or rather, didn't – that no matter how desperately she might try, she couldn't as much shoot a glowing red elephant as a relatively small and human-like youkai in this weather.

Thus she shot blindly, the bright light of her purification arrow illuminating only parts of the rainy curtain around her. It didn't help much.

The rain began to lessen for a moment, but that still didn't mean that she could see something. In a few minutes, the screaming had ceased, however, and the night seemed strangely silent. Something splashed loudly into the mud and Kagome had a pretty good idea what it might be, though it didn't cause her ease and she kept her bow ready. The fact that any half-intelligent pseudo-rescuer of hers would know well that she wasn't able to fight in this weather was unimportant.

Unfortunately, she almost had a heart attack – life wasn't fair – when she received the same question as she had less than a day ago, coming from someone she couldn't see but couldn't believe her luck if her guess was right. The mix of these emotions was quite enough to cause her great confusion.

"Kikyo-sama?!"

Something in her swelled with desperation and screamed in her head that she wasn't Kikyo, would the world please, please, _please_, realize it now?! But the majority of her consciousness was filled with an exhausted contentment, like when she saw Inuyasha do something kind to others without even realizing it or when they managed to go without fighting for a day or so.

The child knelt next to her and now that her eyes weren't obscured by the rain, he was able to see their strange color, quite different from the calm and collected brown eyes of Kikyo-sama. A name made its way into his mind, backed with a memory as the bow that he recognized as well was lowered.

"Kagome-san!" Kohaku cried with a small gasp, watching the priestess collect herself with as much grace as she could in the mud and fail miserably at it. She almost fell into the slippery mud in the process. Yet despite the mud, the bluish bruises on her neck and torso and the fact that she was soaked, Kagome-san looked extremely pleased with him. And a thought hit the young taijiya. "Is ane-ue here?"

Kagome shook her head, like a dog attempting to dry its fur, though her hair was far longer and splattered water everywhere, not that it mattered much. "I came to find you, Kohaku-kun… Kikyo told me how we can kill Naraku… and he will be coming for your shard."

The last thing was obvious to Kohaku, but he, not having been present at Kikyo-sama´s demise, didn't know of the exact nature of it or whatever the resurrected priestess might have told those who had fought for her survival. "You shouldn't have come, Kagome-san." The taijiya sighed. "Youkai have been all in uproar recently. It isn't safe to travel alone. Can you stand?"

Kagome nodded and with the help of Kohaku managed to straighten herself in the mud and then rise to her feet. The diminishing rain was slowly cleaning the mud from her clothes, but she would certainly be catching a cold after this. She didn't care one bit. Of all the people she might have encountered in the wilderness… it was clear that Midoriko´s will had done its part in this, but she was more than grateful for that. She had seen its strong effect when it came to the shards Kouga had carried in its legs – and currently, it was working more to her advantage, it seemed.

"Kagome!" Shippo would scream his lungs out soon, but when he and Kirara discovered Kagome alive and safe and… "Kohaku!"

"Shippo-chan!"

Kirara descended to the ground and the kitsune almost danced on her back, but didn't make impact with Kagome´s wet form this time. "Great, now we can get out of here and return to the others!"

Kohaku paled. "I… I'm afraid I cannot do that, if you came to ask that of me." The thought of seeing ane-ue again, in this state, in the middle of his final task, was too painful. He didn't want ane-ue to suffer again. And if Naraku would make her suffer again, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself, ever. It was bad enough what he had done in his weakness before, the harm he had caused by being selfish and wanting to forget.

The mirror image of Kikyo-sama shook her wet head again. "No, Kohaku-kun, I know you cannot. But I want to accompany you from now on and protect you, like Kikyo did. You traveled with Kikyo before, right?" the taijiya nodded, uncertain of where this was going. "Well, I'm Kikyo´s reincarnation and the only person who can purify the Shikon no Tama now. That's why Naraku will be more careful if he will want to attack you and kill you."

Comprehension entered Kohaku´s eyes… eyes that weren't those of a child. "I see. So when Naraku gets my shard – or even touches me – and you are nearby, you can shoot him – or shoot me – with Kikyo-sama´s sacred arrow and purify the jewel and Naraku."

When he put it that way, Kagome wasn't certain that she liked it very much, but she nodded. "But only if necessary."

Would it be necessary? She wondered… but she wouldn't be the one to slay Kohaku. Not if there was any way she could help it.

"Don't be swayed by pity for me, Kagome-san." Kohaku said, dismissing the concern he saw in her eyes. "I have accepted my death… and I would rather be killed by you for a means of killing Naraku than to allow him to kill me after what has happened. I understand your intentions."

"Then you will let me come with you?"

"Us too!" Shippo chirped from Kirara´s back. "We'll help, Kirara and me." As for demonstration, Shippo transformed into an identical copy of Kohaku with a crack and a puff of smoke. The flabbergasted taijiya had the ghost of a smile on his lips after realizing that it was only innocent kitsune magic.

"All right." He said, picking up the umbrella Kagome had dropped and raising it to shield the miko from more rain. "I think it would be a good thing, but it isn't really up to me, you see."

"Huh?" Kagome didn't understand.

"If you want to come with me, you will have to come and ask Sesshomaru-sama. I've been traveling with his group ever since Kikyo-sama…left."

Kagome felt her formerly soaring spirits drop to the ground like an airplane with a major engine malfunction. She had completely forgotten about this, being so focused on finding Kohaku and so worried about what her friends might say… and a bit angry about being mistaken for Kikyo wherever she went.

Naturally, it wasn't very easy to forget about a near-omnipotent inugami taiyoukai who just so happened to be Inuyasha´s older brother and, just to make things interesting, happened to have a rather murderous attitude towards humans in general, the chilliest glare she had ever witnessed and a personality to match that. And now she was supposed to convince said taiyoukai that it would be very good if he would allow her, a human as fully as he was a demon, not to mention one who had spiritual powers and a rather long-term association with his not-so-dearly beloved brother, to remain within range of his sword that could easily send her straight to hell – and said taiyoukai was quite capable of doing so without a second thought for a reason such as this: "Your face annoys me, human wench."

Even from her optimistic point of view, it sounded slightly on the suicide sight of things.

Kohaku, sensing her startled fear, mustered a slightly compassionate smile. The time he had spent in the company of Sesshomaru-sama had given him enough clues about his relationship with his half-brother and the amount of respect he had for him and his companions. The number was apparently lowering itself constantly.

"I'll try to do most of the talking." Kohaku said, almost like an older brother would. Kagome could only marvel. "Don't be afraid, Kagome-san. Sesshomaru-sama has little love for humans," _Make that none_, Kagome thought. "but he can be reasonable if presented with a logical idea."

The rain had begun to cease slowly, though the storm clouds remained. Kohaku agreed that it would be faster for them to travel on Kirara, petting the nekomata fondly, earning himself an appreciative meow. And though Kagome smiled slightly, knowing that he had probably missed Kirara, she also wondered if it was much of a good idea for her to go _plead_ in her current muddy, wet state.

Not that it would probably be of much help in the end, mind you.

X X X

Shippo would have felt better if there had been some way to make Kirara drift off-course and fly back to Sango and Miroku… and even Inuyasha, though the kitsune knew that he would probably be the first target of the hanyou´s fists. Still, being beaten into a pulp, while not being an attractive concept in its own right, was a more welcome alternative than facing the demon lord they were apparently getting closer to with every passing moment.

Kohaku seemed to know where to go and was gently directing Kirara as a normal human might a horse, but with far more respect to the feline's intelligence. Clearly, to him, Kirara was a friend, not just a means of transportation or a simple pet. And Shippo appreciated that outlook on friendly youkai. After all, the kitsune felt better having a taijiya along with them to protect him and, mainly, to protect Kagome. She always wanted to help people and ended up compromising her own safety. It wasn't always very amusing.

Glancing at the miko, Shippo found himself both pitying her a bit and admiring the resolve with which she attempted to fight back her obvious anxiety. Clearly, she herself wasn't feeling too comfortable right now. Like anyone would when they knew they would be facing Sesshomaru. Well, the possible exception was Inuyasha, but then, the hanyou was always too thickheaded for his own good.

Uncharacteristically, Shippo wondered if thickheadness was a possible way of overcoming fear. But then, the sun was shining, he was with Kagome and, well, in the end, he might be too small to even be judged worthy of the taiyoukai´s attention. Then he could find some way to distract everyone long enough for Kagome to get her bow ready in case of an emergency.

"Are you certain it's here?" Kagome asked with some surprise. Shippo didn't understand the question before he heard what Kagome had been listening to for the better part of the last three seconds.

Giggling.

Very girlish giggling.

At first, the kitsune thought that there had to be some sort of mistake and whoever had been foolish to wander this close to the Lord of the West and giggle about it was going to regret it very, very soon. And then, when Kirara landed and Kohaku slipped off her back, Shippo could believe his eyes even less. There was a squeal, a very girlish sound followed by happy little footsteps and a swirl of yellowish white and orange.

"Jaken-sama, Jaken-sama, look, Kohaku has returned!"

"Rin! Come back here this instant! Sesshomaru-sama will have my head if… aah! Kohaku! Where have you been all this time?! If Sesshomaru-sama were to find out, you'd be severely punished for abandoning us like that! What are you doing with… is that the half-breed's miko?!"

There was no mistake about it, Shippo realized, no mistake about a human girl, a girl only a little older than him in appearance and height, that rushed towards them with merry laughter, followed not-so-closely by that irritating toad-youkai with the staff that shot flames, Jaken, as the girl had reminded the kitsune. The girl made a surprised little sound when she spotted Kagome and rushed to her with a smile.

Jaken gave up attempting to keep up with her brisk young feet and stood some meters away, leaning on his staff, panting harshly.

"Kohaku! Don't tell me you've brought the ningen here to stay?! Oh, how will I explain this to Sesshomaru-sama when he returns…?" Jaken lamented between pants.

Meanwhile, Kohaku hugged the little girl, Rin, but she wiggled out of his embrace and touched Kagome´s wet clothing, then gasped. "Pretty miko-sama is all wet!"

Truth to be told, Kagome wasn't that wet anymore, but she did look like a person that had narrowly escaped drowning. Rin, however, appeared almost dry, save for her bare feet.

"Rin, this is Kagome-san, Shippo-chan and Kirara." Rin squealed with glee as Kirara transformed back into her kitten-like form and allowed the human girl to pet her, purring softly. "This is Rin, you've met before, but I don't think you were properly introduced." Kohaku slipped into a slight mutter. The first time Kagome had met Rin had been when Kohaku, mind blank and body controlled by Naraku, had been ordered to slay the little girl. "Jaken-sama you already know."

As the toad-youkai continued lamenting the situation and cursing Kohaku and Kagome, no one paid him any true attention. However, while Rin and Shippo greeted each other, the human showering the kitsune with questions about anything and everything, Kagome realized, both happily and anxiously, that there was an absence of youki around them, which signaled that the taiyoukai was most probably not there.

Looking back, Kagome realized just how much training she was in dire need of. Apparently, being so accustomed to shard-hunting, when surrounded by youkai already, she couldn't very well pick up the more subtle changes in the air. She had crouched to watch over Rin and Shippo when Jaken´s lamenting in the background was replaced by a terrified stutter.

"Se…Se…Sesshomaru-sama!" On another occasion, the way Jaken let out a horrified croak whenever his master approached suddenly would have been amusing. The tiny youkai practically threw himself to the ground and covered his head with his arms. "Please don't hurt me Sesshomaru-sama, the intruders came here with that brat Kohaku I was about to punish them for that but then-then you came and I… please don't hurt me Sesshomaru-sama!" the wail that followed took longer than all those hurriedly spoken words.

Shippo promptly darted to hide behind Rin, but his cover was blown the moment the girl laughed merrily and took off with a cry of "Sesshomaru-sama!". Then, there really was no place safer than behind Kagome´s discarded bag. It was a bit traitorous, he knew, but after all, he was doing this in case they needed an escape route… right?

Kagome, for her part, hid a shiver and, looking far braver than she actually felt, stood up and turned around towards where Rin had dashed off to. Kohaku was still somewhere nearby, as if a mediator between the two groups, but even Kagome was aware that he wouldn't go up against Sesshomaru, should the taiyoukai view her presence as insulting and unnecessary. When she turned, the only difference she could really determine in the taiyoukai´s appearance was the absence of the Tokijin sword, not that it made him any less dangerous. Otherwise, everything remained the same, from his far too pristine kimono to the crescent moon on his forehead.

She found herself thanking Kami that Kohaku kept his word and spoke first, because she really didn't like the chilly stare she was getting.

"Sesshomaru-sama, Kagome-san has come to ask if she could travel with us until Naraku chooses to come for my shard. We believe it was Kikyo-sama´s intention to purify the jewel he carries along with my shard upon contact and with her dead…"

"You can't possibly ask Sesshomaru-sama to drag a useless and annoying human wench around!" Apparently, Jaken had recovered from his initial heart-attack and, now able to breathe freely again, was able to speak again. Shout, even. "Next you'll want us to put up with the other humans that'll no doubt come following her stench!"

"Now wait just one moment!" It was harsh, perhaps, picking on the little guy, but Kagome had never been able to stand Jaken for very long, even when he wasn't waving that staff of his around. The miko had used the moment the toad youkai had wasted blaming Kohaku for everything to get up, cross the small distance between them, wrestle the Staff of Heads from Jaken´s grasp without difficulty (as he wasn't paying enough attention to hold it tightly) and whack said youkai. Now who was annoying? "It's not Kohaku-kun´s fault! I came on my own accord! Sesshomaru," She decided to take matters into her own hands – they wouldn't be getting anywhere with the current attitude Jaken was showing and the attitude his master was likely to show. As a bystander, Shippo found it admirable just how easily Kagome was able to forget any kind of fear when her temper flared up. Sure, it wasn't as extreme as he had seen it a few times, but it was still really brave. "all I ask is that you let me stay and help protect Kohaku while Naraku is after his shard!"

Neither Kohaku nor Shippo were certain that this was the correct approach, though it certainly was the most direct one. Even Rin, who had settled down after a moment of hyperactive joy, was watching the situation with curious eyes that settled on Sesshomaru-sama. She liked Kagome-san and certainly wouldn't mind having someone who would help her gather flowers. Jaken-sama was always ill-tempered when it came to that.

The taiyoukai´s lips quirked slightly and made a small "hmpf"-like sound after Kagome finished speaking. "Miko," That he didn't call her a human wench was alone far more respectful than what Kagome had imagined she might be forced to endure. "you don't have sufficient control over your spiritual powers to effectively protect even your worthless self. Return to Inuyasha, where your own incompetence might at least raise his spirits."

"No! I said I'd come with Kohaku and I will. Even alone, if you don't want me around." Kagome insisted, her fists clenched tightly to stop herself from screaming "Baka!!" or something else that would most likely cause her a few limbs, at the very least.

"Foolish human. How long have you been away from my brother? It's a wonder you haven't perished in the wilderness already. Kohaku is safe even without you." The demon lord said in the same leveled voice that could make hell freeze over. Make that all hells. "When facing a low-grade youkai, he defended you. If Naraku was to attack…"

"Naraku knows I can purify him along with the jewel!" Kagome interjected, though marveled at how he could possibly know that Kohaku had saved her. _Ah… damned inuyoukai sense of smell. _Jaken was astonished and voiced that immediately, something along the lines of how dare a lowly human wench interrupt Sesshomaru-sama when she should, by right, be groveling at his feet. "All I need is to get close enough to touch any part of his body – I don't even have to hit him with my arrows!"

"Which you wouldn't." Sesshomaru added in a monotone that Kagome found infuriating. He was making assumptions about her archery without ever seeing her shoot a demon aside from the few times she had attempted to distract him!

The miko, feeling Shippo hug her left leg and quietly say her name, understood the warning. This wasn't Inuyasha she was dealing with, who was only petty and childish AND had a magic rosary around his neck. This was Sesshomaru, who didn't consider her worth even the dirt they walked on and, worse, could kill her in less than a second if he chose to. But it was a surprise to herself as much as it was to the taiyoukai that she gave a sigh that was more defeated than defiant.

"Look. I know you don't like me." _That's an understatement, ningen. _Jaken thought. "And honestly, I'm not exactly thrilled to be asking to travel with you, either. But we have a common goal – to protect Kohaku-kun and lure out a common enemy thanks to him. I've never seen anyone defeat you in combat and I have a… a raw power that is dangerous to Naraku." _Well said. _Shippo contemplated with a nod. Rin noticed that and beamed at him. "So I think our chances would be better together."

It wasn't exactly the greatest speech ever and she didn't have the charisma Miroku might possess when attempting to convince people to cooperate, but the fact that the taiyoukai actually remained silent for a moment, as if considering it, was enough. She found herself regretting that she hadn't brought the monk along as well, though he would have probably gotten himself killed the moment he would have asked Rin if she would bear his child when she grew up. Surprisingly, even Jaken was mostly silent. Kohaku only waited for an answer.

It was Rin that jumped in. "Rin thinks Kagome-san should come with us, Sesshomaru-sama." She chimed in, looking from her guardian to Kagome and back. "Kagome-san seems nice to Rin." The child added, as if it were reason enough.

With that good impression furthering her cause somewhat, Kagome almost didn't realize the next question was being posed to her. "Inuyasha will follow your scent and lead enemies to us in his carelessness. This Sesshomaru doesn't have time to waste on distractions."

Kagome, feeling slightly victorious now, shook her head fervently. "The rain wiped our scent away. And if that wasn't enough, Kirara was kind enough to carry Shippo and me. Even Inuyasha will have problems picking up our scent unless we cross paths again."

A moment passed and Kagome kept her fingers mentally crossed. Of course, it wouldn't be much of a prize – getting to spend more time with Seshomaru wasn't exactly what she had had in mind when setting out on this mission, but she was able to understand that the demon lord was the best kind of protector for Kohaku. But she had to make him understand that her skills could, in a way, destroy Naraku more quickly and effectively than his… and without insulting his pride.

"Do as you like, human." Sesshomaru said at last, nearly causing Jaken to lose his eyesight due to the fact that his eyes almost popped from their overly large sockets. "But do not expect protection or aid from this Sesshomaru. If you hinder my progress or become unable to keep up, you will leave my sight. Is that understood?"

Kagome nodded, bewildered. Was that… it? That was… too easy. Far too easy. Somehow, she had the sneaking suspicion that they would travel quite a lot in the next few days. The only relief was that after he had said all that he intended to, the taiyoukai released her from the long, unblinking, tantalizing stare he had been giving her throughout the conversation. She felt her shoulders relax slightly when she was back to being regarded with about as much interest as a bug. Normally, it would irritate her. Right now, she couldn't care less. The hard part was behind her.

"Give that back, human filth!" Ah, that was Jaken. Apparently wanting his staff back, tugging at the edge of her robes. Eyebrow twitching for a moment, Kagome allowed herself to let out her bottled up frustration on one who wasn't able to kill her so easily before she tossed the staff back, hitting him on the head for at least the tenth time.

Rin glanced at Jaken with some distress, but her attention was easily diverted towards Kagome and Shippo. The kitsune now gathered his courage and didn't hide back behind Kagome, even though he was a bit pink in the face when Rin, a girl, approached him again.

"Shippo-chan, are you a kitsune?" Shippo had the claim that he was a kitsune, not a tanuki, on the tip of his tongue, but swallowed it with difficulty when he realized that Rin had asked the right question. He could only nod slowly, uncertainly. "Oooh, do you do magic? Could you teach Rin some tricks? Can Rin pet your ears?"

The children chattered on, beginning to play with Kirara a bit as they introduced themselves in their own way and Rin had the chance to pet both Shippo´s ears and Kirara´s head. Kagome sat down on the nearest log and, surprisingly, Kohaku joined her, awarding her with a smile that congratulated her somewhat.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with things on your own." The taijiya mumbled timidly. "My persuading skills aren't exactly great and…"

"And Sesshomaru can be difficult to persuade, I know." Kagome said with a smile she hadn't felt on her face for quite some time. "I fought against him a few times, so I know a bit about his personality. I didn't really expect to win any favors." Idly, she observed Rin and Shippo. "Would you like something to eat, Kohaku-kun?"

Puzzled that she would care about him that much, Kohaku nodded. "You have food with you? We usually have to find our own food in the wilderness. I help Rin with it."

"And before you came, Rin had to do it on her own?"

Slightly guilty, the taijiya nodded. "I don't suppose Sesshomaru-sama would go around gathering food for humans, even if they travel with him. Come to think of it, I never see him eat anything, but I know better than to question him. Anyway, we survive."

Kagome, however, was scandalized. "Please make a fire, Kohaku-kun. Rin-chan! Shippo-chan! We'll be having breakfast soon, so please wash your hands!"

"You can cook, Kagome-san?" Kohaku asked, attempting not to sound rude. He didn't intend to insult her, but it didn't seem to him that Kagome was the kind of woman who had the time or patience to learn even the basic cooking skills. Not that ane-ue was much better, if he remembered correctly, but… he didn't want to think about ane-ue any longer.

He missed her more that way.

But Kagome grinned triumphantly. "Once you taste my ramen, you'll never want another kind of food in your life."


	5. Existence

Please tell me if I went into OOC-land with any of the characters, as I really don't control what comes out of my mind. This chapter is a bit of a multi-POV thing, but I'm quite pleased with how it came out. It does move the plot a bit, doesn't it?

And don't worry, folks, there is a lot more of this on the way!

X X X

**Existence**

X X X X

Humans were thoroughly perplexing creatures.

The strategy that always worked on annoying pests – ignore it and it will go away – didn't really seem to work on them. At least not on the particular specimen that had chosen to force her presence into an already far too human-infested company, Sesshomaru reflected with some irritation the next day.

The strategy that would be required to get rid of her without actually killing or permanently crippling her from using her powers – as their usefulness had not yet run out… not _completely_, at least – would have to be slightly more complex. The original strategy of ignorance was simply not enough when dealing with this particular pest of a human. There was something in her that was difficult to ignore, though it wasn't necessarily a pleasant thing.

Discard that thought immediately. It was a highly unpleasant aspect of her existence, less tolerable than her existence in general.

Come to think of it, the only positive thing about her was that she was a good subject for study, or had seemed to be upon first glance. Neither Rin nor Kohaku could be considered examples of normal humans, Rin being a resurrected child with little to no memory of any other life and Kohaku being a traumatized teenage taijiya with death looming over his shoulder at every turn. This unorthodox miko, however, was older than either of these two and appeared to be very average in all ways.

In fact, apparently, the only thing she excelled in was the span of time during which she could talk without interruption, which made her an ideal companion for Rin, who shared that personality trait. That was one positive thing about her presence – having Rin out of his hair, figuratively and literally as well. Certainly, Rin's presence wasn't entirely unpleasing in the first place, but after a while, some of her more… human female traits, such as the constant gathering of flowers, could become downright irritating. The miko, however, seemed to take pleasure in watching Rin gather flowers and help her with it whenever they made a short stop. But then, she was a human female herself, so it hardly counted as a plus.

Aside from being a distraction for Rin, the Reasons For Allowing The Half-Breed's Miko To Stay list was unsurprisingly short.

And there was also the fact that the number of humans that took his presence and protection for granted was slowly but steadily increasing to consider – a fact which caused the demon lord's claws to twitch briefly before he reasonably reminded himself that he had never offered protection to any of them, least of all the latest addition to the human part of the group traveling with him, thus if she were to accidentally die, he would have no obligation to be bothered by it as he would if, for instance, he were unable to rescue Rin.

Thus it was actually for her own good that Sesshomaru had put the first steps of the plan of How To Get Rid Of An Overly Talkative Miko into action.

This fact made his claws twitch again in great annoyance at their lack of use at the present moment, though that was only an instinctual reaction to the current problem he was facing.

Sending the miko away meant protecting her. Allowing her to stay meant some serious headaches, as she had been talking nonstop to Rin, the fox child and even tried to encourage Kohaku to speak up a bit ever since she had recovered from the recent youkai assault. But, more to the point, allowing her to stay would mean that she would eventually forget that she hadn't been – graciously or not – offered any kind of protection in case of an attack and then Kohaku or Rin would rush to her aid, which was unacceptable in either case.

But then again, tormenting the miko, having her get frightened by a more powerful youkai that would surely be attracted to the shard in the taijiya´s back and _then_ ordering her back to the half-breed could provide some compensation for the torment his ears were suffering at the moment.

Could.

And, hopefully, Jaken would also stop that annoying muttering he thought no one could hear, especially not his master, who was walking less than two meters away and just happened to possess the best hearing a youkai could have.

_Sigh._

It was simply not good to be dealing with these… distractions outwardly, because Sesshomaru was well aware that it would only result in more issues with the already not acceptable situation. And if he were to confront the human about her behavior, his ears would only suffer more from the proximity to the source of the irritating noise and then it would be difficult to refrain from solving the pain part of the problem by removing the miko´s head.

Or her vocal chords, at least. She could live without those and Rin wouldn't start crying.

Much.

Kagome, on the other hand, was having a surprisingly good time.

She would have never realized just how soothing it was to be able to have a normal conversation with other humans who would actually believe her when she told them about her shard-hunting adventures with Inuyasha and the others. The more surprising thing to them were her tales of her own life, though she took care not to frighten or overexcite them by telling them of her time-traveling. She knew from experience that people didn't react well to that.

However, she found that it was very easy to evade the subject. Rin mostly played with Shippo and if she wanted to know something, it usually concerned innocent subjects, such as the crayons and paper she now shared with the kitsune, all coming from Kagome's bag. Amusingly, Rin seemed to think that she had some kind of magic powers before Kagome was kind enough to explain just how she had cooked their ramen hours ago. It wasn't a miracle, really.

The true miracle was that she was less than ten meters away from the taiyoukai Lord of the West and still alive and kicking.

Kagome began debating with herself whether or not she should muster the courage to approach him and lightly inquire as to if he had any idea where they actually were going, but refrained. Partly because Jaken was giving her looks of deep loathing along with clearly unpleasant mutters – for which she felt sorry, along with the fact that she had taken out her anger on him less than a day before – but mostly because she didn't want to have to edit the 'alive and kicking' part of the current status of her well-being. She tried her best to be kind and cheerful, but knew and regretted that she could have a smart-mouth at times. And this time, it could cause her more trouble than it usually did.

In fact, Kagome thought she was doing exceptionally well thus far. True, they had been on their feet for at least four hours, but she had refrained from complaining or otherwise voicing her discomfort at the pace and aim of their wandering. As a bonus, she had even taken care of the few stray youkai that had had the guts to attack them. Now, admittedly, it hadn't been much of a feat, because only the most dim-witted or blood-crazed youkai would even dare to approach them with the youki already radiating from the figure leading them, but at least Rin was able to enjoy the pretty light.

Concerning Rin: Kagome wanted to ask her a lot of questions. No, really, a LOT of questions. She had only encountered the girl upon occasion, but the very fact that a very human, very little and very defenseless girl was traveling with Sesshomaru, human-hater extraordinaire, was a miracle. And not only in the physical was Rin the perfect opposite of her guardian.

After another hour of walking, even the comfortable shoes that she was wearing were starting an outright rebellion against this journey. It had been more like a muttered protest before, but at the moment, the government of her muscles was being thoroughly overthrown by the shoes. It sounded silly, but that was what it felt like. And when Rin yawned slightly, allowing Shippo to take her favored yellow crayon for the moment, Kagome decided that it was time to remind Sesshomaru that certain beings traveling with him were only human.

Ignoring Jaken, who began muttering in a splattering outrage, she "dared approach the personage of Sesshomaru-sama", as he described between fits of outrage. It took a bit of running to keep up with the taiyoukai´s swift pace and, seeing that it was useless to attempt to be optimistic and assume that her very presence might be enough to catch his attention, Kagome attempted a smile that ended up looking more like a broken sheepish grin.

"Ano, Sesshomaru… I was wondering if we could stop for a moment." No response, as expected. But what made her blood begin to – well, not boil, but steadily warm up – was that he didn't even bother to look at her. "Rin-chan is getting tired and I can make her some lunch and I don't think we'll be able to keep up much longer unless…" One surprisingly cool yellow eye was now fixed on her face, thoroughly crushing her self-confidence. "unless we rest for a moment." Kagome quickly finished, cursing herself for choosing to inform the air at least two feet away from his face of this fact.

Again, no response, but an abrupt stop. Kagome, not paying attention to the ground, tripped a bit over a rock, but managed to stabilize herself. Once she did, the first thing she saw was an impassive stare directed at her, then the rustle of clothing and a swirl of silvery hair before she realized that that, apparently, was his way of saying "no".

A few seconds of stupefied wonder allowed Kohaku, Shippo and Rin, the former on foot, the latter two sitting on the back of a two-headed dragon that appeared to be as tame as a pony when Rin was the one riding it, to catch up with her.

"Don't worry, Kagome-san." Rin said in her nearly sing-song voice, as if this was a daily occurrence. Come to think of it, it probably was. "Rin isn't that drowsy."

Kagome was about to say that that was no reason for such behavior towards a child, but felt a feathery, timid, brief touch on her shoulder. "Sesshomaru-sama doesn't want to stop here because it's too open for an attack." Kohaku said, the light blush disappearing from his cheeks quickly. Kagome remembered that he had been afraid even of the simplest physical contact for as long as she had known his conscious self. That probably had something to do with his past, she decided. he probably didn't want to hurt anyone anymore.

"He will stop in due time, don't worry about it." The young taijiya attempted to crack a smile. "In any case, he might be testing your endurance. He allowed you to stay, but I don't think he was overly enthusiastic about it, Kagome-san. Gomen ne."

Kagome shook her head fervently. Dealing with frustrating inu youkai was her lot in life, it seemed. And she had had enough practice with it already. She didn't even answer Kohaku, or heed Shippo´s pleas to stay with them and look at the pictures he and Rin had been drawing – an attempt to divert her attention, yes, thoroughly unsuccessful, certainly.

And so Shippo watched the familiar green-and-white clad Kagome rush into battle, albeit a verbal one, without plan or caution. Only lots of angry resolve and her wit to protect her.

She had changed into her futuristic clothing because of the current damp state of her borrowed miko outfit and, as far as Rin was concerned, looked more interesting in it. Not that Kagome-san wasn't pretty when dressed as a miko, but Rin liked the way the green fabric she wore tied around her waist remained folded, like a… like a pretty folded cloth should look. Anyway, it looked interesting and made Kagome-san seemed to be a bit more of a natural part of the group. After all, the clothing, while pretty, was so strange that if Rin didn't know better, she would have guessed at first that she was a youkai.

"If you won't let us rest, will you at least tell us where we're going and how far it is?"

Audacity. Impertinence. Some serious nerve. It could be defined as any of those. Certainly more than a few synonyms of the two former descriptions came from Jaken, but everyone else present was too curious or too concerned for Kagome to pay too much attention to him.

As for Sesshomaru, who had heard every word without intending to, the third synonym seemed to be the most likely if anyone had asked him and he would have been bored enough to want to answer. One of the many anomalies of this particular human, he came to discover, was that if she was teased or angered enough, she appeared to throw any shred of rational common sense she might hypothetically possess out of the window and rush into action – come to think of it, that appeared to be her defining personality trait for as long as he had been aware of her existence.

This time, she didn't avoid his eyes, which alone was far braver than she began to feel some seconds after marching up to Sesshomaru and voicing her discomfort at the current amount of information she had been given. That, and she began to wonder if it was just her imagination running rampant when she thought she saw him mentally counting the various ways of removing her from existence permanently.

"You are in no position to make demands, miko." She never appeared to be, this human, but always made them, apparently thinking that there was always someone to save her or watch her back, at the very least.

Of course, she didn't even have the sense to see the usefulness of her protest. "I am, if they concern our mission." And since when had it become _our _mission?

That had probably been a tad out of turn, Kagome thought while battling with the instinct to cringe when a single eyebrow on her verbal opponent's face rose less than half an inch, but clearly indicated that he was wondering that, too.

"If you would just answer my question, I would stop bugging you about it." Kagome suggested brightly, reasoning that if she remained cheerful and looked on the positive side of the situation, she could work it all out.

Of course, the doubtful glint she thought she saw pass through his eyes before they deemed her unworthy of his attention again did nothing to reassure her of that, but she decided that worry and too much caution wasn't going to get her anywhere. Now, admittedly, she had never been a friend of the taiyoukai – an ally out of need, no, necessity, was more like it – but if she was to spend her time in his company, _willingly_, she added with a twinge of irritation, he might prove to be at least slightly more cooperative.

After all, for all the claims that he hated humans, she had spent at least the last ten minutes bothering Sesshomaru within claw and sword range, not to mention that weird whip of his she couldn't see now, and it would have taken him approximately three seconds to employ the methods of killing her he was – _hypothetically_ – thinking about even if she were a mile away.

Thus, logically, as long as she didn't treat him like Inuyasha, there was nothing wrong with being a bit demanding.

If she had any idea that she looked very much like Rin at the moment, she would have been pleased. Sesshomaru, however, was far from it.

Actually, the resemblance of this – female? miko? _human? _– to his - ward? _something?_ At the current moment was not at all pleasing. Less pleasing, even when the similarities ceased to be only facial, which were either coincidences or really bad luck, but behavioral as well. next, the miko would probably start picking flowers and sing some childish ningen folk song in a horribly off-key voice in an attempt to brighten her spirits… or whatever it was that all females seemed to do.

What was it with females and flowers, anyway?

"Even you should know better than to continue pestering this Sesshomaru." The taiyoukai said in a highly unimpressed voice, though he was slightly curious as to what she would do next. With Jaken, such an answer would be enough for five minutes of groveling. With Rin, it would trigger more flower picking.

With the miko, it triggered only a brief frown and more chattering. And speaking. Very quick speaking. Apparently, this was her greatest skill. And, judging by the intensity of her voice that matched that of the pain his ears would certainly be suffering soon, Sesshomaru decided he didn't want to test if dying because of a human miko´s chatter was a possibility, because then he would certainly torture her spirit in the underworld.

Right now, surprisingly, he didn't have an interest in her death.

If she would stop talking, that is.

"…and don't tell me that your plan to find Naraku is just wandering around aimlessly, because I've done that plenty of that with your brother…"

"Half-brother, miko." Sesshomaru corrected, with a touch of delicacy.

"… and it doesn't work. If we stayed in one place, he's bound to come sooner or later!"

Ah, the simple-mindedness of Inuyasha appeared to be contagious, though this was a wiser observation than the hanyou would have been able to make. Another reason why he was below even humans.

"Foolish human. Naraku isn't my only priority." Why was he indulging her with an answer, anyway?

"All right, but he's your first priority."

The miko´s ability to find a loophole in his words – albeit a predictable and unimaginative one – went straight to the already long list of Reasons To Get Rid Of Miko. When he spared a glance at her – which, very fortunately, stopped her from talking for a moment – Sesshomaru added her current state of dress, or rather, undress, to that list. The miko clothing suited her better for two reasons: one, Rin wouldn't be assuming that that green thing that even a less decency-restricted woman would blush over was the normal garment of a female and two, it was simply another thing that separated her from the usual ningen.

Thus it was irritating.

And, ironically, suited the miko in that twisted way, sharing her defining trait.

"Why do you hunt him, anyway?" Kagome asked suddenly. It occurred to her that now that she had somehow coaxed Sesshomaru into a conversation that was longer than any Rin had told her about, she thought she might as well ask all that she wanted to.

After all, who knew when such an opportunity would arise again.

Wait… what was she thinking, interviewing – no, make that almost interrogating – Sesshomaru without feeling the least bit scared?

Where was the feeling of fear or at least a wary respect for the fact that she was almost flirting with death?

It was good to know that it promptly returned upon the moment her senses – or her holy powers, though she never really thought of them that way – registered the slight ripples in the sea of youki around them and she began to wonder, not very eagerly, if she hadn't gone overboard with that last question. Jaken, who had been listening in and commenting on her every word with a not so quiet mutter, seemed inclined to agree.

"That is my line, miko."

And Kagome found her opened mouth already shutting tight when the answer proved non-existent.

Of course she was fighting for her friends, for her dearest companions, but he knew that and probably found it very… ah, human and foolish? That would be somewhere along the Sesshomaru line of thinking. But, at the start, it had been her who had destroyed the Shikon no Tama, albeit without intending to do so, and it was her duty to help restore it. Yes, duty covered it. And she told him so.

And, to her utter bewilderment, Kagome could swear she heard something like a soft snort come from the untouchable Sesshomaru.

"If your duty is to restore the Shikon no Tama, then the logical course of action would have been to gather its shards and not get involved with the pseudo-revenge your group seems to have in mind."

"Naraku has nearly all the shards – there's no way to do that!"

"Which provides further proof of your incompetence to be the protector of the jewel." Sesshomaru informed her in a tone one might use when talking about the weather, thoroughly causing Kagome to forget her momentarily confusion.

"It wasn't my fault!" she said hotly, her temper just barely in check. "Besides, it was Kikyo´s plan to let Naraku have the jewel before purifying them both away!"

Kikyo? Ah, that was apparently the dead priestess that had sealed the half-breed fifty years ago. Well, admittedly, Sesshomaru knew little about that woman and cared even less, but was at least dimly aware that the chattering priestess and the dead priestess had never been too fond of each other.

Not that his half-brother was much of a prize to fight over, but still, if the other miko was even half as hotheaded as this one, even the witless half-breed almost deserved to be pitied. Almost.

"Miko, calm yourself or I shall be forced to silence you by means you wouldn't appreciate." Though her mouth wasn't shut, at least the miko´s vocal chords appeared to have some kind of sense. With good reason, as he had endured more than enough of her babbling for more than a few lifetimes.

To Kagome, it was more like an instinctual reaction, because she got the idea that she had just crossed some imaginary line that she was never supposed to cross. Perhaps she had only put a toe or two over it, but it had definitely been further than anyone had ventured before. Still… "You know, if you would just answer my question for once, we could avoid me getting all worked up like this. I want to help, you know."

"Your help is neither required nor desired."

Kagome sighed, almost dramatically. Well, now it was clear that Inuyasha´s pettiness came from his father's side of the family, though it appeared to take various forms and shapes. "I don't care. I'm not doing this for you. But I thought that we might as well try to get along."

"I fail to see your point, miko."

"Well…" The miko took a deep breath and poked her sleeping imagination rather rudely in the ribs – _wake up! WAKE UP! _As she was going to have to improvise a bit. "I was just thinking that we could work out some kind of a plan," she hated the brief look he gave her, because she thought she saw the closest thing to momentarily mild amusement that _she_ should think of such a thing, "in case Naraku shows up. So that, well, Rin and Kohaku wouldn't be in any danger. I can try to do a kind of barrier around us to keep us out of harm's way."

"And why do you presume that this Sesshomaru will do your dirty work, miko?"

"You were the one who didn't deny hunting Naraku! I just thought that being more skilled in fighting you'd want the first shot at him."

A moment of silence when Kagome thought that he might actually be contemplating the suggestion of a human. "What of your… plan?" the taiyoukai then asked – the last word wasn't spoken with distaste as much as it seemed to be slightly more curious.

Briefly, Kagome considered getting angry again and reminding him that it wasn't her plan, but Kikyo´s, but debated against it, reminding herself of the line she had crossed already. "If you have a better one that'll have the same results, I'm all for it. Well?"

"Conditions."

Kagome felt a slight sinking feeling in her stomach, assuming that she wouldn't like these "conditions". "All right."

"One, cease your useless chatter. Two, unless you prove the effectiveness of your so-called barrier, you cannot defend the humans."

Though she felt some heat rise into her face, Kagome tried to bite her tongue and nod. After all, these weren't unreasonable requests – the second one wasn't, anyway – and the very fact that Sesshomaru was considering cooperation in at least the vague sense of the word was a great victory.

"And three," Kagome raised her gaze at the wrong moment to see the eyes of the taiyoukai critically and distastefully eye her uniform. "you will dress properly."

Somehow, the critical look made her feel more embarrassed than one of misplaced lust from a random bandit would. But, as she allowed Rin and Kohaku to catch up with her, she assumed that it wouldn't be a very good idea to start explaining school uniforms to Sesshomaru.


	6. Comprehension

Five hundred hits! Woo-hoo! Me likey!!

He he, and if you don't mind, guys, I would love if some of you would leave a review or two after reading. You know, encouragement and all that?

Pity the author?

Heh.

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**Comprehens****ion**

X X X X

All-in-all, it hadn't been that bad a choice, Kagome decided.

The evening proved to unfold in a fashion that was very familiar to her and Shippo. Once they finally stopped in the midst of the forest, far away from even a clearing, Kagome thought her feet were through with protesting and were about to thoroughly separate themselves from her body, permanently. She slumped down to the ground, her back against the nearest tree, swinging her backpack from her shoulder as she descended. The others were faring considerably better than her – Kohaku didn't seem to be tired at all, despite the length of their trek and Shippo and Rin had both ridden all the way.

As Rin moved to go find some fresh grass for Ah-Un, as it turned out her two-headed dragon escort was lovingly called by the girl, Shippo rummaged through Kagome´s bag – with her permission, of course – and found food for them, unfolded her sleeping bag and went to help Kohaku, who was collecting some firewood. Kitsune bi helped before Kagome could summon the strength to find her matches and soon, the smell of cooked fish and mushrooms was surrounding them.

Rin returned, hopping down on the ground, but only after Kagome told her that she didn't have to collect her own food, but could take some of theirs – her surprise and gratefulness made Kagome wonder just how she had collected her food previously. Nevertheless, the humans and Shippo and Kirara sat together by the fire while Jaken sulked a few meters away from them, clearly still dissatisfied with the situation. Sesshomaru was nowhere in sight.

Kagome rationed their food for the moment and counted that they would last at least another day, but not much beyond that. For the first time, her mind strayed to the well and her world beyond it, where it would be easy to replenish their supplies. She could also bring some shoes for Rin, as she didn't really approve of the little girl strutting around barefoot. Kagome understood that warm and quality footwear was something of a luxury in the Sengoku Jidai.

And giving Rin something useful and rare at the same time probably wouldn't hurt to better her relationship with Sesshomaru. Despite her weariness, Kagome found herself thinking of the word "hah!" in a very mocking, not-so-triumphant manner at the expression and shaking her head. Relationship. Well, considering that thus far their "relationship" had consisted of a series of unintentional encounters that usually involved his attempted murder of her, there was very little that could ruin it even more, if that was possible at all.

But an entire day spent in the taiyoukai´s company proved one thing to her – they could coexist. Of course it wouldn't be the warm, friendly coexistence that she had had with Inuyasha and the others, but she found out that they could coexist without any violence.

That certainly was something new.

"This is delicious, Kagome-sama." Kohaku said while munching on one of her last bags of potato chips. "I haven't seen anything like it. Is this food from your village?"

Kagome laughed slightly edgily. Questions about her homeland were best left unanswered or avoided. "Yes, it's from my homeland. Mama says they aren't too healthy, but I like the taste."

Rin was watching the whole conversation with a wide smile, despite struggling with her chopsticks. Shippo jumped to help her, even offering her some of the cookies Kagome brought him. "Try these, Rin. Kagome´s mom buys the best food. You won't find these anywhere here!"

Rin munched on the cookies and Kagome refrained from saying that it probably wasn't a good thing to mix tastes. The little girl had clearly never eaten chocolate before and she smiled widely. "This is the best food Rin has ever eaten! Arigato, Kagome-san! Will we pass your village? Could your okaa-san make us more of these?"

"I'm sorry, Rin-chan, I don't think we'll be going to my village anytime soon." Kagome dug out her last chocolate bar and sacrificed it to Rin to lessen the girl's slight disappointment. "But when I go there next time, I promise I will bring you whatever you like best."

And so Rin smiled again and then decided that Jaken-sama could use some chocolate as well, to make him feel better about the whole thing. He didn't seem to like Kagome-san much, which was a pity, because Kagome-san seemed very nice, much nicer than the kind of humans she was used to encountering. Thus Rin pranced right to the youkai and offered him a bit of her bar, saying that he should try it. Of course, he refused to do so and didn't want to even be persuaded by the girl, who insisted. Kagome, who wasn't very hungry, remembered that she had promised to change – from what she knew of Jaken, she had come to understand that his master wasn't very indulgent when his orders weren't obeyed (and those _conditions_ had certainly left no room for debate).

Therefore, she found the borrowed miko outfit that was tied around her bag to dry itself and straightened it out. After many hours in the sunlight, it was dry, fortunately. Quickly excusing herself, she made a beeline into the woods a bit further away. She had no problem with changing in front of Rin or Shippo, but Kohaku was a different matter entirely – and it was for his benefit as well. Kagome knew he was very shy, even more than her. And then there was Jaken – Kagome shuddered a bit at the mental image of her undressing in front of the toad youkai.

It was highly fortunate that she had voiced her request that they stop near a hot spring of sorts earlier. The uniform shirt she was wearing was almost as soaked as her haori had been and she longed to rid herself of the sticky feeling. Her bath was only short, because she didn't fancy leaving the rest of the group alone for a long time. Another thing was that she realized she would probably have to be the one to oversee Rin and Shippo´s baths… and, with a sinking feeling, she realized that Jaken, who had probably been the "nanny" before, would think nothing of dumping all childcare on her shoulders, purely because she was _female_.

_Wonderful. _

There were aspects of life in the Sengoku Jidai that were simply irritating. Where were equal rights for women when you needed them?

She folded her discarded clothes carefully, the shirt along with her shirt, before sliding on the white haori and, finally, the bright red hakama, highly grateful that priestesses didn't have to wear full multi-layer kimonos. If she wasn't the daughter of a family that lived in a shrine, she would probably have no idea how to fasten that kind of clothing. She actually wondered when she would have another chance to wear her uniform.

Well, Kagome thought, studying her appearance, she had, by and large, followed every demand Sesshomaru had made to the last word. Now no one could tell her she didn't look like a miko.

"Miko." Yes, a miko. No one could contradict that she now looked like one, no one.

"_Miko._" Again, more insisting.

Wait… the voice in her head sounded rather like…

Kagome snapped out of her reverie and spotted Sesshomaru meters away from her, devoid of expression as usual, but with an impatient edge coloring his voice. Which was probably only natural, as she had apparently zoned out more than she had wanted to, because in contrast to the now blackish forest, Sesshomaru stood out even more than usual in his white clothing, looking rather luminous.

How he remained that clean and seemingly immaculate – at least on the outside – when he traveled through the wild in _white_ and probably silken clothing, she had no idea.

It was simply one of the anomalies of the universe, she supposed.

"Wha-? Oh, sorry, Sesshomaru. You needed something?" _Polite, polite, be polite._ That was the key to a peaceful cooperation and coexistence.

The word "statuesque" seemed to come to a whole new level when concerning the taiyoukai. It was really difficult for Kagome to discern if he was mildly irritated or highly angered at the moment.

"You are absent from camp. Is this how you intend to protect the humans in battle?" That he had noticed her absence alone was surprising. But it didn't mean he had to insult her battle skills!

"You said you wanted me to change, so I did!" Kagome said, feeling slightly hurt by such criticism. "I can't exactly change in front of Jaken, you know!"

Oddly, Sesshomaru found this strange. Why would it be impossible for her to do that? Was it some kind of human etiquette – if the foolish creatures possessed something of the sort, by kami – that he had no knowledge of? Or perhaps… oh, surely not. The loud, impertinent human wench who dressed as risqué as possible possessed feminine modesty? "You do not usually seem to be troubled by your state of undress." He noted logically, eyes moving to the green and white garments the miko held in her hands.

Kagome wasn't amused. In fact, this remark really pushed her buttons. "That's my uniform! I have to wear that to school and there's never enough time to change when Inuyasha barges into my house to drag me back here before I even get to do my homework or study a bit!"

If he understood correctly, Sesshomaru deduced that the female was referring to some kind of education she seemed to receive. And, apparently, to receive that education, she was obliged to wear the offensive garment. Well, it wasn't that he had never questioned the human's state of mind previously. Not that he spared her thoughts of any kind, but when the miko stood in front of him, with her vulgar clothing, wild, loud words and foolhardy courage, one had to question her sanity.

With what she clearly considered a frustrating sigh, the human continued. "I'm trying to adapt, okay? You're not exactly easy to cooperate with, you know. Look, I've changed my clothing like you wanted. Are you happy now?"

The demon lord wasn't entirely certain about whether she realized her impertinence at using such a tone with him or how to answer her. Certainly she didn't expect him to be… _happy_ about anything that concerned her?

But then again, eying the miko critically from head to toe, Sesshomaru had to admit that her current appearance was acceptable. The human was clean, decently dressed in accordance with the traditions of the shrine maidens and, though she was weaponless, radiated a scent of holy power in her probably angered state.

Surprisingly, while it clearly showed _danger_ to lesser youkai, at least, it was mixed with some sort of… flowery scent? But it smelled strange as well.

"Your scent is obscured." Sesshomaru commented, his eyes returning to the miko´s face. From his experience, no human _ever_ had a flowery scent, fake as it was, especially not a scent that collided with their own.

And, from his experience, no human's smell could be defined by even some word remotely close to "bearable". The miko´s scent, despite the interfering flowery unnatural one, classified somewhere between "acceptable" and "pleasant". Definitely _not_ crossing the border of pleasant. Merely better than the average.

Much better.

Thus polluting the air was crossed out of the list of Reasons To Get Rid of the Miko.

It took a few seconds for the miko to understand what he was referring to and she produced some sort of vaguely cube-shaped scented object. It smelled like she did, only far more intensely and offensively. "This is soap from my… from my village." She said brightly, but the slight untruth easily pierced even the fake scent emanating from her. "It helps me wipe away dirt when bathing. I don't really fancy the smell of demon guts on my clothes, you know."

If someone had told Kagome three days ago that she would be showing and explaining the use of modern-day soap to Sesshomaru, she would have deemed them mad without a second thought. Currently, however, she was fixed by the demon lord's stare… and realized that it wasn't as blank as she had thought it was. More like calculative, really. Perhaps he… Kagome gulped slightly. Explaining the more detailed origins of a modern-day item hadn't been her plan.

But fortunately, she wasn't faced with such a demand, as Sesshomaru suddenly turned and began to walk away from her as if they had never even spoken. A loud "huh?" echoed in her mind. Now, shouting matches she was used to, but the other person walking away from her as if she wasn't even worth the effort… that was definitely something new. And just then, something else drew her attention.

Just how long had he been standing there?

And so, though Sesshomaru had long since vanished, Rin, Kohaku, Shippo and Kirara found themselves glancing up, wondering where the loud shriek of "Pervert!" had come from.

X X X

The next day began all too early for Kagome´s tastes, but then again, she was used to rude awakenings. This time, it had been Jaken, nudging and poking her with the staff he carried around. Kohaku had already been up and ready, but Rin and Shippo were still snuggled in their sleep, Rin on her pet dragon, Shippo in Kagome´s sleeping bag, as it was custom. Kagome had offered Rin the bag as well, but the girl refused, saying there wasn't enough room in it for all three of them – she was right, of course. But she appeared to be very thankful for the offer.

How unusually quiet it was not to have demons wanting to steal their jewel shards attempting to kill them without a second thought. How strange it was to be able to pleasantly chatter the day – and the journey - away with Rin and Shippo – and even Kohaku, who seemed to open up slightly to her after witnessing her treatment of Rin.

They entered no village, merely passed through the wilderness, almost like phantoms, shadows. If a youkai was insane enough to attempt to attack them – as the purity of Kagome and the youki of Sesshomaru could probably be felt miles away – they were slain within seconds, before most of the group even had time to register what had happened. Surprisingly, Kohaku occasionally lent Sesshomaru a hand when such things happened.

Kagome experienced her first real shock when some bandits attempted to rob them for the money they didn't possess. Even the glare and the single syllable that would have sent even braver humans or demons running Sesshomaru spared them didn't affect them. Needless to say, Kagome had stood back to avoid getting in the way of the splattering blood. They were dead without any pretext or threat. Sesshomaru didn't even draw the Tenseiga – it seemed he had deemed them unworthy of being killed by the mystical sword.

"You could have just scared them a bit." Kagome couldn't resist saying when she caught up with the demon lord again. She didn't really think the whole "they were bandits, but they were still human beings" bit would work with Sesshomaru, despite him being a little less cold-blooded than he had perhaps been before Rin had crossed his path.

Predictably, Sesshomaru only glanced at her before dismissing her and her words. "They would not have retreated. Such… gangs…seek both glory and vengeance for their fallen comrades."

Kagome blinked. She was actually receiving a response?

Wow.

"Ungrateful wench!" Jaken had apparently decided to voice his opinion on the matter. "You would have been killed had Sesshomaru-sama not disposed of those thieves and you complain about it!"

"Well, when you put it that way…" Kagome mused. But still, it had been shocking to see that life meant so little to Sesshomaru. Sure, she knew that humans were supposed to be worthless, lowly creatures in his eyes, but seeing the reality of it was rather brutal.

No, that was the wrong word. Chilling was more like it. For all the blood involved, Kagome had to admit that Sesshomaru wasn't brutal. She didn't know a lot about different swordplay styles and what they involved, but she had a good guess that he hadn't made any unnecessary moves or caused a deliberate slow death because he enjoyed it. No, it was really more like Jaken had said – disposing of them. Like one did with garbage – you pack it up and throw it away. No need to crush the tins or shred the papers to tiny pits. You just dispose of it.

And that was what had happened.

With their food, too.

They were steadily running out of it. And how long had it been since she had visited her family back in the future, Kagome wondered? Mama and Sota and jii-chan… they had no idea just how serious the situation in this era had become. She hardly had any idea what they were studying at school at the moment and, strangely, didn't care much about it. At the moment, Naraku was her priority. And the jewel. She would finally deal with those two problems and then…

Then… if she would survive… she would attempt to make things right. Then she would continue on living.

Somehow.

Her chance came when they suddenly stopped an hour or two after midday. Apparently, there had been some disturbance in the vicinity – not that Sesshomaru bothered to explain anything to them – but, the important thing was, the inu youkai decided to investigate it and took Jaken with him, instructing Rin to stay where they were and informing Kagome, very friendlily, that he held her responsible for whatever happened in his absence.

After having so much practice with hearing those words, Kagome was very surprised to see just how much sweat tickled down her throat at a simple "I'll kill you." Well, it had been something more along the lines of: "If something happens to Rin and Kohaku, you will suffer the consequences." But the meaning remained the same.

She definitely wouldn't have the time to cross the border between the past and the future, nor did she have the skill to protect Rin and Kohaku while in the future. Thus, she opted for a simpler thing.

"Is this a good idea, Kagome?" Shippo asked. "Sesshomaru won't be very happy if he doesn't find you here when he returns."

Kagome smiled bravely. "To be honest, Shippo, I'm not sure about that. But don't worry about that. Kaede´s village isn't far off – I'll go there and ask for some food. I'm sure Kaede-bachan will help us."

"Don't go, Kagome-san." Rin pleaded as well. "We can go catch some fish if you want. Or wait until it goes dark and we can go to a village and get some food."

Rin was little – she could get away with stealing a vegetable or two. But Kagome highly doubted that the three humans, plus Shippo and Kirara, would be equally lucky at acquiring their own stolen food. She began to miss Miroku´s fake exorcisms slightly, though she would never admit it.

"I have to, Rin-chan. I won't take long. Promise. Kirara, please!" Obediently, the nekomata transformed into her more fearsome form and Kagome prepared for a usual take-off. However, before that, she extended a hand towards Kohaku. "Please, Kohaku-kun. You have to come with me." She had talked to the taijiya before, but he didn't seem too certain about leaving Rin and Shippo. "Ah-Un can help the others fly away in case of need, but without you, youkai are less likely to attack. We'll run out of food if we don't go."

With a sigh, Kohaku hung his head, but nodded heavily after a moment. she was right, of course, but when he sat down on Kirara´s comfortable back and the youkai took off, he felt a slight dread. He hoped dearly that ane-ue wouldn't happen to be found in the village they were going to visit.

Shippo and Rin watched them leave. Then, once Kirara was only a small fiery dot in the sky, Rin sighed slightly.

"I hope Kagome-san and Kohaku return soon. Sesshomaru-sama won't be happy if he doesn't find them here when he returns." Then, she perked up slightly. "Shippo-chan, do you think Kagome-san will bring us some more cho-chocolate?" the girl asked, struggling to remember the word.

The fox-child folded his little arms in a serious manner. "No, Rin-chan, not now. Kagome gets the chocolate and color-pencils and paper from her home beyond the well."

"Well?" Rin repeated, curious.

"Kagome is from a whole different world!" Shippo said happily as Rin sat down on the ground near their fire. "She and Inuyasha can get to the future when they pass through the Bone-Eater's Well, where Kagome lives."

Rin was stupefied, but in the positive sense of the word. she smiled widely and glanced at Ah.-Un, then at Shippo. She didn't really understand magic, but she believed Shippo. If he said that Kagome-san came from the future, then Kagome-san came from the future. After all, he had shared those pretty coloring sticks with her, so why would be lie? "Could Rin go see Kagome-san´s home sometimes?" 

"Only Kagome and Inuyasha can get through the well." Shippo sighed. "I wish I could get through and see what other candy they have there. Kagome says she can't bring many things from there and she always has a very heavy bag…"

But Rin was already wondering what the future could possibly look like. Did they have more sweets? Were all people nice like Kagome-san? Didn't they need to hunt for their food that often? And, more importantly, how did they make such magic coloring sticks and such nice paper?

Would she stay with them? It would certainly be nice. Kagome-san seemed to know about herbs and flowers and how to make pretty combinations of nice-looking plants. And, along with the magical colors and paper, she had definitely gained popularity with Rin.

Only one thing was certain: Kagome-san was definitely magical.


End file.
